IRA named beneficiary
I was recently told by an estate tax attorney that if a husband or wife passes away the surviving spouse would have the rights to the deceased spouse’s IRA EVEN IF THEY AREN’T THE NAMED BENEFICIARY. We live in Florida (not a community property state) and it was always my understanding that whomever is name on the IRA beneficiary form would be the new owner even if it is a non-spouse. Can you please clarify for me?
Permalink Submitted by Alan - IRA critic on Thu, 2014-05-22 19:11
In a common law state, the surviving spouse is NOT the automatic beneficiary. Attorney may have been thinking about a qualified plan under which the current spouse is the actual beneficiary unless they signed a waiver permitting the other spouse to name a different beneficiary. IRAs are not subject to this requirement.