The most likely advantage of maintaining the IRA as inherited is when the surviving spouse is under 59.5 and needs penalty free distributions. Another less likely advantage is when the surviving spouse wants to avoid beneficiary RMDs that must begin when the deceased spouse would have reached 70.5. Once these two possible advantages no longer apply due to the age, the surviving spouse should assume ownership of the inherited IRA. While inherited, once beneficiary RMDs must begin Table I is used to calculate the beneficiary RMD. Since this table produces a much higher RMD than the Uniform Table, if an RMD is required either way, electing to assume ownership will reduce the RMD and also preserve the life expectancy stretch for the next beneficiaries. Ages of both spouses and need for distributions should be analyzed before making the decision to assume ownership or to wait longer to assume ownership.

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