not technically married-options for the partner as benefici
Hello,
There is a client who was a life partner to her deceased partner . She is the beneficiary of the Calsters ( California state teachers employee retirement services).
what are her options?
Calsters is saying she could open an IRA and treat the assest as her own but some other custodians say she must open a bene IRA.
If they were not technically married then what are her options?
Permalink Submitted by Joseph Arsenault on Thu, 2010-06-24 19:25
Well, normally you must be married, however..
Certain states have “common law marriage” statutes that deem certain couples as being married without a legal ceremony. If the participant is in such a state that meets these common las marriage requirements, he or she may meet the requirement to be called a spouse and be eligible to qualify for the surviving spouse rollover rules. This is part of the Defense of Marriage Act I believe.
I do not know the “common law marriage” statues of California, but someone here may. You would think this is something the custodian may be aware of, so maybe there advice that she can in fact roll the money to her own money is correct. Definitely make sure before acting on the advice though. Custodians give bad info ALL the time.
If she does not qualify as a spouse for this purpose, she has the options of a normal non-spouse beneficiary. You can have the money Directly rolled over to a beneficiary IRA. Start her RMDs the year after the decedents death. Don’t forget about this years RMDs if the man was over 70 1/2.
Permalink Submitted by Joseph Arsenault on Thu, 2010-06-24 19:26
Oh, and the IRS expressed this opinion about common law marriages applying to spousal rollovers in a 2007 presentation.
2007ARD 191-1