A husband passes away in 2015, which is after his Required Beginning Date. He has a 401k, of which his trust, not his wife, is named as the bene. The wife had to sign a waiver to permit this. Upon his death, the original trust sets up two trusts: a wife trust and a family trust. The family trust has 3 kids as benes, the oldest with a birth date of Sept. 1958. The wife is not a bene of the kids trust. The amount of trust assets up the estate tax exemption goes into the family trust, and the remainder, if any, goes into the wife trust. The husband also has other assets he held jointly with his wife that went to his wife upon his death. The trust has 2 assets: a brokerage account worth about $30k and is the bene of the 401k plan, worth about $400k. These go into the family trust. Nothing goes into the wife trust. In the first year after the death of the 401k plan original owner, the RMD must be distributed. On whose life is the RMD supposed to be based? (The trustee likes the GIC investment inside the 401k plan and leaves the assets with the 401k plan administrator. The assets are not rolled over into an IRA.)

Twist, the 401k administrator pays out an RMD based on the year of birth of 1932 . The husband and wife were both born in 1932. The trustee of the family trust tells the 401k plan administrator that the trust is a pass thru trust, the wife is not a bene of the 401k assets, and the RMDs should be based on the DOB of Sept. 1958. The administrator ignores these instructions. For about four years, the administrator pays out the RMD based on the date of birth for 1932. In 2020, no RMD is required and the benes of the family trust choose to skip the RMD that year. For 2021, the trustee talks to the 401k administrator and points out again that the trust is a pass thru and the RMD should be based of date of birth for 1958. The administrator now agrees and changes the coding on the account so that the RMD going forward will be based on a birth date of 1958. When the trustee calls in before the RMD is distributed and tries to confirm the date being used for the RMD. At that time, the trustee is told 1932. The following week, the trustee receives the RMD and it is based on a date of birth of 1958.

Going forward, is it safe for the RMDs to be based on the date of birth of 1958. If they are questioned by the IRS, is that a problem?