Inherited IRA Distribution Period
Fred passed away in 2015 leaving his IRA to his son, Paul. Paul was 64 in 2016. His distribution period was 21.8.
Paul died in 2018 with no beneficiary listed on what was now an inherited IRA. Custodian re-titles to Paul’s estate.
Paul is survived by his wife. She is sole executor and beneficiary of Paul’s estate. Wife transfers account to new custodian.
New custodian re-titled inherited IRA in wife’s name removing estate tax id and using wife’s tax id but still separate from her own IRA account.
Can Paul’s wife still use Paul’s remaining distribution period – 18.8 for 2019 – or need it be distributed by end of 2022 (i.e., 5 years from Paul’s passing)?
Permalink Submitted by Alan - IRA critic on Thu, 2019-04-04 20:30
The new title must still show her as a beneficiary of Paul, since she is not eligible for a spousal rollover when the account was previously a non spouse inherited IRA. She can continue to use the same divisor that Paul would have used if still alive, while reducing that divisor by 1.0 each year. She is not subject to the 5 year rule.
Permalink Submitted by Andrew Weissman on Mon, 2019-04-08 13:51
Thank you for the confirmation that the fact the wife was not a named beneficiary does not disallow her from using the original dispbution period. Yes,we still have name of original benficiary in title. Best, Andy.