403b owner inherits spouses 403b can he combine?
Wife passed, had 403b. Custodian says there was no bene listed and the husband is entitled to it. The husband has 403b account as well and would like to just roll hers over into his. Can that be done and is there something additional to look at here since he is not listed as bene?
Permalink Submitted by Alan - IRA critic on Tue, 2014-11-25 23:59
A 403b plan cannot be rolled over by a surviving spouse like an IRA can. He can maintain it as a beneficiary, or he can roll it over to an inherited IRA or owned IRA. Eventually, the balances could be combined if and when he rolls over his own 403b to an IRA. The best time to do a rollover of an inherited 403b depends on his age and also the age his wife would be. Note that if he maintains the 403b as inherited, he will be treated as a designated beneficiary even though he was not named, because a surviving spouse on a qualified plan is the default beneficiary and therefore is treated as designated, and also as a sole spousal beneficiary, which confers some RMD advantages to him.