Same sex relationship not formalized by marriage
I received a call from person wanting to report the death of his partner,
The two men had been together for over 20 years. Some people thought they were just friends while others saw them as they were, a couple.
The relationship was well established at the time same sex marriages became legal in NY and throughout the US. They never took the step to marry.
The gentleman I spoke with was named the primary beneficiary of the decedent’s estate (at least 95% of estate assets).
He was also name sole beneficiary of two 403(b) accounts totaling $900k.
The decedent was age 65. The beneficiary is age 64.
It would make a huge difference if the beneficiary is treated as spouse.
I’m looking for someone who has had experience with cases like this who would be willing to share their experience.
Permalink Submitted by Alan - IRA critic on Tue, 2023-01-03 19:47
NYS does not recognize common law marriage, so they would have had to marry for the beneficiary to be treated as a spouse. That leaves the 403b beneficiary as an EDB, but if any of these plans uses a 5 year rule for deaths prior to RBD, a direct rollover to an inherited IRA by the end of the year following the year of death would preserve EDB LE payouts for the beneficiary.