Rollover TSP and IRA from death
Have client whose wife passed away. She has an IRA and a retirement account with Thrift Savings Plan.
Questions:
- does the IRA have to be changed into his name first and then transferred to his IRA?
- or can a transfer IRA form be sent to her company to transfer to his IRA?
- does the TSP retirement plan have to be changed into his name first (since it is an actual rollover) and then transferred to his IRA.
Thank you,
Douglas
Permalink Submitted by Alan - IRA critic on Wed, 2025-03-19 18:24
The IRA must first be titled as an inherited IRA, after which the surviving spouse can assume ownership and then transfer the balance into an IRA he already owns. There is no deadline for this. This is preferable to requesting a distribution (declining withholding) and then doing a 60 day rollover to his IRA of amounts that exceed the beneficiary RMD.
A transfer form can be sent by the spouse, but it is better to have the custodian of his IRA request the transfer to his IRA.
A beneficiary account at the TSP will have to be created before his IRA custodian can request a direct rollover to his IRA.