Spousal Beneficiary (Roth IRA)
Roth IRA owner dies prior to satisfying the 5-year hold period
Spouse, sole beneficiary, makes the Roth IRA her own
Does the surviving spouse “absorb” the hold period the spouse had previously satisfied? For example, the deceased died 3 years (into the 5 year hold period) – Does the surviving get the benefit of the 3 years or does the clock start all over (since she made the Roth IRA her own)?
Same example – slight change of facts – Let say the surviving spouse already had her own Roth IRA. Does she get the “long of” the deceased hold time or her own Roth clock?
thank you in advance
Permalink Submitted by Alan - IRA critic on Tue, 2021-11-09 15:47
Yes, she gets the longer of the two holding periods if she already owned a Roth IRA. But she also needs to be 59.5 for her Roth to be qualified, in addition to meeting the 5 year holding period. If this is her first Roth, she has another 2 years to go to meet the holding period portion of the qualification requirements.