When Not to Name Your Spouse the Beneficiary of Your IRA

Have your decided to make your spouse as the beneficiaries of your IRA. I do feel that if you have done it blindly then you might be proved wrong very soon. In many cases however naming your spouse as the beneficiary of the IRA really make lot of sense. However depending on your wishes you can have alternative as well to solve your cause.

At first I would like to look at the advantages which you will enjoy by naming the spouse as the beneficiary of the IRA.

The first advantage which the spouse really fins is that she can think the IRA to be her own. When the objective is to delay the required minimum distribution (RMD) for long as possible then the spouse will probably look for this alternative. This selection allows the spouse to postpone the RMD unless and until she is 70 to 72 years of age.

However you must know that what is the required minimum distribution or the RMD. And you must also know that what is the reasons behind the fact that most of the spouse prefers to postpone it for such a long period. I must tell you that as far as the RMD is concerned it is really the amount which the IRA owner will have to start distributing from his/her IRA. If the spouse is younger than the IRA owner then this idea really makes the sense.

Using the life expectancy of the spouse it is quiet good to name her the beneficiary and this really makes sense if the IRA owner is older than her. Given the fact that the IRA owner is older it basically reduces the distribution period. If the IRA owner dies before the age of 70/72 the spouse can defer the RMD until the IRA owner reaches the age of 70/72.

Despite these advantages and referrals some other beneficiaries may make sense.

Marital deduction trust

The use of a trust has many advantages such as the ability to customize the distribution of the trust assets among the beneficiaries, tax advantages and the ability to sprinkle income.

One main advantages of naming a marital trust as the beneficiaries of your IRA is to include a QTP provisions (qualified terminal interest properties). This allows the IRA owner to control where the property passes upon the death of the spouse. The most obvious use of the QTIP election id to make sure the children or a person are not disserted due to the spouse's own subsequent beneficiary election or he second marriage.

Keeping all these things in mind I do feel that you should really think twice before making anybody the beneficiary of your IRA. But you must have got an idea that the selection of spouse is really a safe option on most of the occasion than not.

Things to Know About Home Information Packs (HIPs)

Since 14th December 2007, in UK it has been made compulsory for the sellers to produce the documents like home information pack (HIP) in front of the buyer. I must tell you that this is the document which contains all the information related to the house which is put on sale. And now in UK none of the property can be sold without this documentation.

I do feel that you will definitely be eager to know what actually the home information pack is. For this entire let me tell you that a home information pack is the document which contains the complete description of the home. For example there will be the implementation of any energy saving features like double glazed windows then this home information pack will definitely contain the information about it.

I do feel that the implementation of information pack which is now one and half years old has seen lots of good consequences in the recent times. I would definitely say that home information pack is the document which is proving to be one of the major sources of information which the buyers need about the house. However you must know that the home information pack does not contain extra documentation and the information made available can be time dependent too. For example the seller can only provide some of the information at first and then when the buyer agrees with the deal, then the seller can provide more information in the coming future.

The pack must contain the information which must not be more than three months old when the property is first marketed. It must contain the following things:

1.Index
2.Energy performance certificate
3.Sale statement
4.Title document for the properties
5.Local authority and drainage searches

If the property is common hold or lease hold then the documentation must contain:
1.Copy of the lease
2.Building insurance policy
3.Contact details for the land lord or management and any legal details
4.Regulations that apply
5.Recent service charge receipts

The pack may also contain some or all of these authorized documents:
1.Home condition report
2.Two seller questionnaire forms called the home use form and the home content form.
3.Legal summary
4.Other searches such as the mining search

Home condition report

It was earlier though that the report will also contain the home condition report. This was found necessary so that the buyer cannot complain during the later half of the deal. It was really decided to make clear to the sellers that they should provide the complete documentation about the home condition in the report. However this was postponed and nit included in the final decision.

Energy performance certificate

This is really an essential part of the information pack.
Hence I do feel that it is really a nice move by the UK government.