both deceased and spouse/bene are of the RMD age
how is the RMD calculated? is the first one based off of the deceased IRA acct holder if he was of the RMD age and then the subsequent ones based on the beneficiary’s/spouse who is also of the RMD age or spouse as the bene does the RMD calculation including the first one after IRA acct holder is deceased based on her own age?
sorry for the long question.
Permalink Submitted by mk foss on Wed, 2009-07-01 20:23
While living the IRA owner calculates RMDs from the uniform table – which assumes two lives – in most cases. At death RMDs are generally based on the single life of the beneficiary – you use the single life table.
For the year of death, the RMD is calculated as if the IRA owner had lived all year. If the owner didn’t take it before he/she passed away, it is taken by the beneficiary. It doesn’t matter who the beneficiary is, they just take the amount the decedent was entitled to.
A spouse beneficiary has choices to make once the original owner has passed away. They can take the RMD determined by the single life table or roll the benefits over to their own name. If they keep the IRA as a beneficiary account, the first RMD is due the year after the death and is based on the beneficiary’s age in that year and the IRA balance on December 31 of the year of death. If the spouse/beneficiary was older than the decedent who was of RMD age, the RMD can be based on the decedent’s life from the single life table.
If the spouse does a rollover, he/she becomes the owner. The RMD is determined from the uniform table and the age of the spouse in the year after the death (for the first RMD); the uniform table is consulted each year going forward.
Two additional complications:
1. The spouse can do a rollover at any time – thus he/she could receive payments for a few years using the single table before the rollover which moves you to the uniform table.
2. No RMDs in 2009 for anyone – not the owner – not a beneficiary.