Spousal Consent
When an IRA owner dies, and does not name his surviving spouse as beneficiary and she did not sign a written consent waiving her rights to the IRA, in the State of New Jersey is the surviving spouse entitled to the IRA? The deceased owner funded the IRA with his own funds. He did not complete a beneficiary designation form, and the financial institution advised his estate is the beneficiary. Under ERISA and REA it is my understanding a spousal consent is required.
Permalink Submitted by Alan Spross on Tue, 2011-12-20 21:55
ERISA does not apply to IRA accounts, therefore the presumption of a spousal beneficiary also does not apply as it does for ERISA covered qualified plans. The surviving spouse may have a claim against IRA assets in community property states, but NJ is not such a state.
However, the surviving spouse probably has a potential claim on a share of estate assets if there was no will, or a will did not satisfy the spouse’s interest under NJ law. If her spousal interest in NJ was deemed to include IRA assets, she could then roll over her portion to her own IRA.
Bruce Steiner may comment on this. He is an estate attorney licensed in NJ who frequently posts here.
Permalink Submitted by Bruce Steiner on Wed, 2011-12-21 00:04
I agree with Alan.