Spouse Inherited IRA rollover to own IRA
Example: Husband was born in ’50 and wife was born in ’56. The husband passed in 2006. Because the wife was only 50 at the time, she was advised to open an inherited IRA rather than in her own name so that if she needed to access any portion of the assets before 59.5, she could do so without penalty. At this point the surviving spouse is now retirement age so early withdrawal penalties are no longer a concern. She has never taken a distribution from the inherited IRA. Because the original owner would have turned 73 this year, the wife must start taking RMDs from the inherited IRA using the life expectancy method. Does she have the option of moving the inherited IRA into an IRA in her own name so she can delay taking the RMDs by an additional six years?
Permalink Submitted by Alan - IRA critic on Thu, 2023-11-16 03:37
Being born in 1950 husband’s RMD age would have been 72, not 73. Since he would have been 72 in 2022, wife was required to take a beneficiary RMD in 2022. Since she did not take it she defaulted to ownership status last year and that erases the RMD requirement. Now that she is actually the owner, she should have the election to assume ownership processed so the titling agrees with the status. No harm done.