IRA RMD for deceased spouse

Submitted by Renee Covert on Wed, 2019-01-09 19:02

My husband passed late November 2018 and hadn’t taken his required RMD for the year. How long do I have to take that distribution on his behalf?

When he passed my Power of Attorney expired automatically so I was unable to take those distributions for him. I am in the process of transferring the accounts into my name but it’s been quite the process and taking much longer than I had expected.

I have taken my distribution but will there be a penalty for my husband not taking his distribution in the 2018 calendar year or is there a grace period allowed so I can get these accounts into my name?

My age is 75 and my husband was 86 when he passed.



Submitted by Alan - IRA critic on Wed, 2019-01-09 19:43

  • Sorry to hear of your loss. The IRS fully expects it to take time to determine the status of the RMD and to re title IRA accounts after the owner’s passing as you are finding out.  Therefore, even though the RMD should have been distributed by 12/31, the IRS will certainly waive any penalty if you file a Form 5329 with your 2018 joint tax return. You should have distributed the RMD by the time you file the return, so you can state that the late RMD has been distributed.  The late RMD will be taxable to you in 2019, the year received. Note that by electing to assume ownership of the inherited IRA in 2019, you will treat this IRA as if you owned it the entire year 2019 and your own 2019 RMD will then be based on your age at the end of 2019, the Uniform table, and the inherited IRA balance on 12/31/2018.
  • Care should be taken in completing Form 5329. There are only 4 lines, but what goes on each line is not intuitive. Check the last page of the 5329 for directions. If completed correctly, the IRS will certainly waive the penalty.  Unfortunately, you must file single in 2019 so your tax rate for the combined 2018 RMD and your own 2019 RMD will be higher.
  • Also, it does not matter to the IRS which account the 2018 RMD comes from, so you can make this up from your own IRA after it has been created. The best way to handle this is to first tell the IRA custodian that you are electing to become the owner of the inherited IRA, and then to transfer it by direct transfer into a new owned IRA (or existing IRA if you already own one).  You are only allowed one 60 day rollover for all your IRAs in a 12 month period, so doing a direct transfer avoids a distribution that you would have to roll over. Do not take a distribution until all the funds are in your own IRA. The only thing that goes on the 2018 joint return is the 5329 requesting the penalty waiver. Be sure to name your own beneficiary(s) ASAP.

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