Spouse’s Rollover
If my spouse rolls over my IRAs upon my death, does she just leave her name on them or does she have to leave my name (deceased) with F/B/O on the accounts? Is it the same for a 401(k) rollover?
If my spouse rolls over my IRAs upon my death, does she just leave her name on them or does she have to leave my name (deceased) with F/B/O on the accounts? Is it the same for a 401(k) rollover?
Permalink Submitted by Alan - IRA critic on Mon, 2017-08-28 16:07
The surviving spouse can maintain inherited plans as inherited indefinitely, but can also roll the inherited plan over to their own IRA anytime they choose to. Timing of the rollover is important. Typically, the plan is retitled as inherited in order for the surviving spouse to get penalty free distributions if they are not yet 59.5. There are also some other possible reasons, such as the surviving spouse being older than the decedent, and wanting to delay RMDs until the decedent would have reached 70.5. Therefore, if she is younger than you but has already reached 59.5, she should roll the plan over to owned IRAs in her name only and not keep them titled as inherited accounts. Of course, if you are providing her with instructions you might have to make them detailed enough to account for different instructions when she reaches a certain age, usually 59.5.