Under the tax laws, significant income tax benefits can be lost if someone names their estate or a traditional trust as the beneficiary of his or her retirement accounts.  Leaving a retirement account to a young individual beneficiary can offer the tremendous benefit of continued long-term income tax deferral, but sometimes the original account holder is not comfortable with giving the young beneficiary full control over the account.  My new post “What is a Retirement Benefits Trust?” provides information about how specialized trusts can be used to resolve these problems.