Inherited IRA RMDs
*Experiencing technical difficulties this morning, so forgive me if this question is posted multiple times* A husband names a trust as the 100% primary beneficiary on his IRA. The trust qualifies as “see-through,” and the surviving wife is the 100% beneficiary of the trust. Aside from the obvious that the wife should have been named outright, can the wife take RMDs based on the uniform table, rather than the single life expectancy table? The wife turned age 86 in 2025, and the husband passed in 2024 (age 84). She plans to leave the balance in the inherited IRA trust account, i.e. she does not intend to complete a spousal rollover to her own IRA.
Permalink Submitted by Alan - IRA critic on Tue, 2025-09-30 10:39
The proposed Regs for Sec 327 of Secure 2.0 do not clarify this question. My guess is that if the trust is a conduit trust for the spouse the trustee could use the Uniform Table, but if it’s an accumulation trust that might eliminate treatment of the spouse as the sole beneficiary. And this will probably not be clear in the next 3 months when the first beneficiary RMD is due.
To avoid the question and if the trust provisions allow, the trustee might consider assigning the IRA out of the trust to the spouse as a spousal rollover. She will then own the IRA, can use the Uniform Table, and her beneficiary will be a designated beneficiary who would be able to stretch over 10 years.