Non Spouse Beneficiaries – Vanguard Conversation
I just spoke with my Vanguard rep about breaking my mother’s IRA (I act as her agent) into four separate IRA’s with each of my siblings named as a single beneficiary.
She agreed that was the best strategy but told me I didn’t have to do this now, that we could wait for my mother to pass and then take care of it at that time. Is that correct?
Permalink Submitted by Alan Spross on Fri, 2008-01-04 20:31
Yes, that’s correct.
A few months ago, Vanguard stated that they wanted all IRAs for an owner to contain the same beneficiary, but from your post it sounds like they are being flexible in not making this an ironclad requirement.
There are some reasons to make the split while the owner is alive including avoiding disagreements between beneficiaries in a multiple beneficiary situation. If all are named on one IRA, it is required that separate accounts be created by the end of the year following death, or all beneficiaries are required to use the life expectancy of the oldest beneficiary.
Permalink Submitted by Denise Appleby on Sat, 2008-01-05 20:09
It may be a good idea to get the response in writing, given their new policy