Over the last 30 years there have been significant changes in the applicable law that impacts considerations in estate planning with individual retirement accounts (IRAs) and tax-qualified retirement plan benefits. Overall, the law has been simplified quite a bit (for example, decisions no longer must be made about whether to "recalculate" or use the "subtraction method" when a taxpayer reaches the required beginning date). Despite the various simplifications, this special category of assets remains more complicated to plan for than most of the other assets that we must help our clients incorporate into their estate plans. Because these assets comprise a very significant portion of the asset base for nearly all of our clients, it is important to make sure they are properly addressed.