Combine ROTH’s?

Submitted by Geoffrey Kasher on Mon, 2020-11-09 22:09

Husband has a Roth, Wife has a Roth.

Hubby died. Can wife roll is Roth into hers?

Just for account consolidation?



Submitted by Alan - IRA critic on Mon, 2020-11-09 22:26

  • Yes, she can and should do so unless there is a tax advantage to waiting. For example, if she is under 59.5 and needs to tap his Roth earnings or recent conversions, there would be no penalty since it is inherited.
  • If she combines them, the date of the first Roth contribution is the date of the first contribution made by either spouse. The combined Roth would in all other respects be treated as her own Roth as if she owned the total balance all along. Her age would apply with respect to any early distributions.
  • In simplest case, if she is over 59.5 and one of them first contributed over 5 years ago, they should be combined. To do this, she should first provide the death Cert and other info to his Roth custodian, have it retitled, and at the same time notify the custodian she is electing to assume ownership. She can then do a non reportable direct transfer to combined the two Roths. This saves using up a rollover under the one rollover limitation.

Submitted by Geoffrey Kasher on Mon, 2020-11-09 22:35

Alan, you are the most helpful! Thank you She is 77 and I assume hubby was about the same age. I don’t know if either of them have taken any distributions.

Submitted by Alan - IRA critic on Mon, 2020-11-09 22:39

It would not matter whether either took a prior distribution in this situation. She should combine. I should add that combining will also eliminate the need for her to take an RMD from the inherited Roth since it will no longer be treated as inherited.

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