Spousal Inherited IRA
If I were to inherit my spouses IRA and elect to keep the account as an Inherited IRA in the name of the deceased for my benefit as opposed to assuming ownership to an IRA in my name do I have the option to transfer that Beneficiary IRA to a current IRA in may name at a later time. Basically, changing my mind down the road? Thank You
Permalink Submitted by Alan - IRA critic on Wed, 2015-03-18 19:45
Yes, you can assume ownership at anytime you want, but once you acquire ownership you cannot go back to inherited status. You can also roll over any portion to your own IRA and maintain the inherited IRA for what is left. Generally, a surviving spouse will only retain an inherited IRA if they are under 59.5 and need penalty free distributions, although a sole surviving spouse beneficiary that is older than the deceased spouse and does not need distributions can also maintain an inherited IRA without RMDs until the deceased spouse would have reached 70.5. Other than these two situations, it is always best to roll it over to an owned IRA.
Permalink Submitted by David White on Thu, 2015-03-19 21:48
Thank you, I appreciate it.