401K -Common Law Spouse- Spousal IRA verses Inherited IRA

Submitted by Cathy Youngblood on Sun, 2022-09-18 13:00

Hello,

I was wondering if I could get your help with an issue I am having?. My common-law husband of 21 years passed away in July. Voya and their TPA are saying they cannot make a determination that I am a spouse in order for me to roll-over as a spousal IRA verses and Inherited IRA. After pushing the issue, they are saying I need to have a marriage certificate to prove I am his spouse. As we all know, there is no marriage certificate for common-law marriages in PA, it is not required. Can you please tell me what I am to do to get this issue resolved and get my spousal IRA status?

Thank you,

Cathy Youngblood



Submitted by Alan - IRA critic on Sun, 2022-09-18 14:52

  • Sorry to hear of your loss. The laws of the state of PA with respect to common law marriages should determine if you are eligible for the spousal rollover. You might talk to a PA divorce attorney to determine what documentation should be required, but that still does not mean that Voya will accept it. If you want to consider Vanguard for your IRA, whether inherited or owned, since they are PA based for decades, see what they say in relation to the documentation you can produce.  If they will allow a spousal rollover, then have the inherited 401k directly transferred to an inherited IRA at VG (or other IRA custodian that would accept an election of ownership), then make that election with the IRA custodian. There is no deadline to make the election, and you should actually keep the inherited IRA as such if you are under 59.5 to provide penalty free distributions.
  • Note that this issue of spousal status also affects your inherited IRA RMDs. While still a beneficiary IRA, a spouse enters Table I for a new divisor each year, but a non spouse reduces the initial divisor by 1.0 each year, and of course could not do the spousal rollover.

Submitted by Jay Wiedwald on Mon, 2022-09-19 19:24

Not sure what weight it would carry, but a history of filing your tax returns using a Married filing status would be an indicator, if not evidence, of your marital status. 

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