Title Correct on 1099 R?
The title of the accounts on the paperwork I’ve seen for these inherited Traditional Non spouse IRAs shows both the beneficiary and deceased and indicates that they are IRAs, but a couple of the 1099-Rs omit the name of the deceased and the label of beneficiary. Should all 1099-Rs for Beneficiaries of Traditional Non spouse IRAs have the deceased’s name on it as well as beneficiary’s name and label that they are beneficiary, or is it okay to just have beneficiary’s name and social and the box checked for IRA and coded Death Distributions? Does this change if one of the distributions, though issued to the beneficiary in 2016, was from the original owner’s account number because it was for the year of death that the deceased did not take, whereas the other 2016 distribution was from the new inherited account? Going forward there is only one account number—the new inherited IRA. Thanks.
Permalink Submitted by Alan - IRA critic on Tue, 2017-03-28 20:22
While not the best, a 1099R showing just the beneficiary name, correct account number and SSN, with code 4 in box 7 should not cause any problems. While most custodians will transfer to a new inherited account before making a distribution rather than changing the SSN on the owner’s account, as long as the 4 items above are correct, it will be OK. Note that a qualified plan beneficiary distribution will not even have a different account number as the plan will have to establish internal separate accounts for reporting and distribution purposes. There should be no problem with what you described despite the lack of uniform reporting between custodians.
Permalink Submitted by Cheryl Van Beek on Wed, 2017-03-29 00:36
Thank you.
Permalink Submitted by William Tuttle on Wed, 2017-03-29 03:07
The custodian will have the title of the account contain both the beneficiary and the decedent. However, very often they will issue the 1099-R named to just the beneficiary and they will list the orginal account owner elsewhere on the 1099-R. They will very often do the same thing on the Form 5498.