Eligible Designated Beneficiary? – Disabled in wheelchair since young age, but has a job?

Submitted by LPL Advisor on Wed, 2024-02-21 15:20

I’m wondering if a man, late 30s, disabled since a young age, has been and will be in a wheelchair for his life, cannot drive, was on disability social security his whole life until recently he got a job with 60k salary working from home– would be considered an eligible designated beneficiary as a son of the deceased IRA owner, therefore not have to adhere to the 10 year rule?

I believe the definition from the IRS is:
“A person is permanently and totally disabled if both of the following apply. They can’t engage in any substantial gainful activity because of a physical or mental condition. A physician determines that the disability has lasted or can be expected to last continuously for at least a year or can lead to death.”

He is permanently disabled and it will last continuously but since he just now got a job, will he not be considered an eligible designated beneficiary?

Please share your thoughts, thanks!



Submitted by Alan - IRA critic on Wed, 2024-02-21 15:46

What were the dates he lost SSD and the date of parent’s death?  If he was an EDB as of the date of death he will remain an EDB even if he loses SSD benefits later on. The beneficiary must provide documentation to the plan administrator of disability status no later than 10/31 of the year following the year of death. 

Submitted by LPL Advisor on Wed, 2024-02-21 16:20

He lost SSD before the date of the grandfather’s death (not the father I just learned). His grandfather died in the end of 2021, and he started working before that. So does that mean he definitely wasn’t an EDB at the time of his grandfather’s death? Just because he had a job? And it would definitely be too late to provide documentation of disability since it was a few years ago? 

Submitted by Alan - IRA critic on Wed, 2024-02-21 16:57

He has lost only the presumption of disability status due to loss of SSD at the time of death, and because he inherited prior to the release of the (still) proposed IRS Secure Act Regs issued Feb, 2022, he would still arguably qualify as an EDB based on his condition that qualifies as disabled under Sec 72(m)(7). I would recommend that he distribute LE RMDs as an EDB, which just happen to be the same as 10 year rule RMDs if GF passed after this RBD, so there would be no violation if the IRS challenged EDB treatment (highly unlikely) before 2032. Just in case, he should collect some documentation of his condition at the end of 2021 in the unlikely situation where the IRS or the IRA custodian might question EDB status, and he should advise the IRA custodian that he considers himself an EDB and not subject to the 10 year rule. The IRA custodian cannot force out the remaining balance in 2031 even if they disagree.

Submitted by LPL Advisor on Wed, 2024-02-21 17:39

What does the LE stand for? Thanks for all your help. 

Submitted by Alan - IRA critic on Wed, 2024-02-21 19:29

LE = life expectancy. The single life table is used to determine the divisor for the first beneficiary year with the beneficiary age attained that year. That divisor is then reduced by 1.0 for each year thereafter, so the table only needs to be used for the first beneficiary year. Finally, if grandfather did not complete his 2021 RMD before passing, the beneficiary was responsible for completing that year of death RMD.

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