Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California

If the trust is named as IRA beneficiary, the trustee can collect the account and distribute its proceeds among the beneficiaries as provided for in the trust instrument. However, please note that a non-Roth IRA is pretax money - income tax is due on every dollar removed from the IRA. Depending on the details, it may be possible for the trust to roll over the IRA into an Inherited IRA, allowing the trust to cash in the IRA over the life expectancy of the oldest trust beneficiary. If the IRA is of significant value, this can be very important.