There are several estate planning benefits that may be achieved by establishing or converting your existing regular IRA to a Roth IRA. The following issues may be important in your circumstances:

1. The minimum IRA distribution rules at age 70½ have been suspended for Roth IRA holders.
2. Taxpayers who can pay the income tax on the conversion of the IRA from non-IRA funds will benefit greatly from the Roth IRA because of the ability to enjoy greater tax-free yields.
3. The payment of income tax prior to the imposition of estate tax (when a Roth IRA election has been made) compared to the income tax deduction obtained when a traditional IRA is subject to estate tax has a moderate benefit for the taxpayer.
4. Taxpayers who need to use IRA funds to fund their unified credit bypass trust definitely need to consider making a Roth IRA election for that portion of their overall IRA funds, since distribution is not required.
5. By making the Roth IRA election, taxpayers reduced their overall estate, thereby lowering the effect of higher estate tax rates on the last dollar of their estate’s value.
6. The ability to name a new beneficiary in a Roth IRA conversion after age 70½ provides estate-planning flexibility.
7. If you leave a Roth IRA to a spouse, it can be left intact until he or she dies, allowing for even greater tax-free growth.

There is an important limitation on converting a regular IRA into a Roth IRA, the Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) in the year of the conversion must be $100,000 or less. There are a variety of techniques that may be helpful in meeting this limit, such as:

• Postponing receipt of earned income
• Postponing receipt of unearned income
• Accelerating business expenses