Spousal beneficiaries have many more options than a non spouse.

For a non spouse beneficiary, RMDs must begin no later than 12/31 of the year following the year of death. The 5 year rule is not an option if the IRA owner passed on or after their required beginning date. If more than one non spouse beneficiary, separate accounts also need to be created by the same date if they each are to use their own life expectancy.

The single life table would apply using the beneficiary age attained in the year following owner’s death. If the owner passed after the RBD and in the unlikely event the beneficiary is older than the owner, the beneficiary can use the owner’s remaining life expectancy rather than their own. Once the first divisor is determined, the divisor is reduced by 1.0 for each year thereafter.

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OK, in that case RMDs MAY be lower using the owner’s remaining life expectancy. It’s somewhat tricky if they were close in age.

The owner’s age at the end of the year he passes is the age used to enter the single life table and the divisor is 1.0 less than what the table shows for the first RMD year that follows.

The difference is that if the beneficiary’s age is used to determine RMDs, the beneficiary age in the year AFTER death applies. When the decedent’s age is to be used, start with the decedent’s age in the year OF death. The difference here is that the decedent must usually be 2 years younger (measured on 12/31) for the decedent’s age to produce a smaller RMD than using the beneficiary’s age.

Another detail here is that the decedent could start RMDs before his RBD, but the actual RBD date (4/1) is the date used to determine if the decedent passed prior to the RBD or not. That date also determines whether a year of death RMD must be taken for the decedent in the year of death by the beneficiary.

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