Spousal Inheritance of IRA/ RMD Impact
Scenario is this.
Deceased spouse passed in EOY 2019. Spouse is a direct beneficiary. RMD of deceased would have been 2024. RMD of surviving spouse is 2023. Should the IRA be left as is until 2024 or should it be rolled into surviving spouse’s IRA? Any insights are appreciated since this is an important juncture.
Permalink Submitted by Alan - IRA critic on Fri, 2021-11-19 20:00
I think you mean that the deceased would have reached 72 in 2024, but surviving spouse will reach 72 in 2023. If the surviving spouse maintains the IRA as inherited, beneficiary RMDs would not start until 2024. If this additional year of deferral is helpful, the surviving spouse could maintain the IRA as inherited until 2024, and then elect ownership in 2024 and the 2024 RMD would be calculated using the age of surviving spouse in 2024 and the Uniform Table. And even if the surviving spouse forgets to elect ownership, if the 2024 beneficiary RMD is not completed by the end of that year the surviving spouse is deemed to have elected ownership by default.