On June 12, 2014, in the case of Clark v. Rameker, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that funds contained in an inherited individual retirement account (IRA) do not qualify as “retirement funds” within the meaning of the bankruptcy code exemption. The result of this unanimous decision was that a debtor’s bankruptcy trustee may consider the inherited IRA to be an asset of a bankruptcy estate, and is therefore available to satisfy a creditors’ claims.
While the decision in Clark may be limited in scope, it still leaves many questions unanswered. However, the good news is there are many things you can do to protect yourself and those you love. We recommend you make an appointment with one of our trusted attorneys to ensure your IRA is protected and to discuss the various options for protecting your IRA.