858.792.5988

Serving San Diego for over 35 Years

Clients, Colleagues, and Friends,

I retired on Dec. 31, 2019, and officially closed my office, after 42 years of practicing law. I thank you all for your confidence in me and your friendship over the years. My colleague David Dufek who has shared the suite with me for the past two years is taking over my practice and will have all client files. Not only will David be taking over the practice, he remains in the suite and is taking over my fax and phone lines. You are free to leave your files with David or pick them up. David's practice like mine includes will, trusts, and probate, as well as personal injury work. He also does landlord - tenant work and debtor - creditor matters including bankruptcy.

I wish you all the best.

Alex

IRA Stretch Out: Meet with Your CPA

Tax deferred growth is a beautiful thing.  The IRA (or Roth IRA) stretch out is nothing short of miraculous!  Often children or grandchildren are named as beneficiaries so that they can take advantage of life-long (required minimum distribution) payments with the assets continuing to grow until the beneficiary is in his mid-80s.

As part of the estate planning process, the beneficiary designations for your retirement accounts are analyzed.  During this process, it is important to:

  • Consult with your CPA
  • Review your plan documents to determine permissible beneficiaries and whether stretch out planning is allowed.

Because CPAs are experts in income tax issues, they should be consulted to analyze the benefits of the IRA stretch out.  In other words, your CPA is part of the estate planning team and helps to choose which beneficiary makes the most sense as part of your overall estate plan.

Estate planning is not a lone ranger sport.  Your estate planning attorney works with your CPA, financial advisor, insurance professional, and banker.  If you do not have any of these team members, we would be happy to match you up with a professional who would be a good fit for you. Call my office at 858-792-5988 and I will help with everything that I can.