IRA funds paid to Estate. Is it possible to transfer to inherited IRAs?
TP died without naming beneficiaries for an IRA. Custodian paid funds to estate. Monies deposited into estate’s DDA account. Can the estate still transfer funds to inherited IRAs for the estate beneficiaries, or is it too late? Did the IRA itself have to be transferred to the estate to be transferred to Inherited IRAs or transferred directly from original IRA to benes’ inherited IRAs? If IRA funds were paid to the estate, would transferring to inherited IRAs now be considered unallowed rollovers?
Permalink Submitted by Alan - IRA critic on Sun, 2025-02-23 17:04
With a possible exception of the surviving spouse being the estate beneficiary, once inherited IRA distributions are made to the estate, there is no possible rollover and the distribution will be taxable, although the distribution would usually be passed through the estate to the estate beneficiaries determined under the will, or intestate state provisions if there is no will.
The executor might have requested the IRA custodian to assign the inherited IRA to separate inherited IRA accounts for each estate beneficiary. No distributions would then have been made to the estate, and the beneficiaries would be able to manage their own inherited IRAs over the allowed RMD period.
That said, the assignment does not change the RMD requirements, but distributions could be spread over 5 years, or if the IRA owner passed after RBD, the remaining life expectancy of the deceased owner.
Permalink Submitted by Jane Early on Sun, 2025-02-23 18:56
This is what I understood, and I thank you for confirming I had come to the right conclusion. This forum is great. We all appreciate your time and effort.