distributions from ira where mestate is the beneficiary
the estate is the beneficiary of an ira where the decedent was over 70 1/2 and was taking required distributions. do the three beneficiaries of the estate have to take the same distribution amount each year. could one say i want my 1/3 now while the other 2 take their distributions over the decedents life expectancy?
Permalink Submitted by Alan - IRA critic on Mon, 2016-09-12 17:40
The estate would likely want to terminate and assign the IRA to each of the estate beneficiaries as separate inherited IRA accounts prior to any IRA distributions. The year of death RMD can be taken in any combination from the inherited IRA accounts, so if one beneficiary wants a lump sum distribution, the others do not have to take any of the year of death RMD that the decedent did not complete. It is simpler if no distributions are made to the estate directly prior to termination, as that would increase complexity of estate tax accounting as the estate would then have to pass through unequal amounts of the IRA distribution to each estate beneficiary.