Eligible Designated Beneficiaries and Disclaimers: Today’s Slott Report Mailbag

Sarah Brenner, JD
Director of Retirement Education


Question:

When an IRA owner dies after their required beginning date, can an eligible designated beneficiary choose either the life expectancy option or the 10-year payout rule? 

Answer:

If an IRA owner dies on or after their required beginning date, the 10-year rule is not an option for an eligible designated beneficiary (EDB). The 10-year rule (for an EDB) is only available when the IRA owner dies before the required beginning date. After the required beginning date, the eligible designated beneficiary would have to take distributions over life expectancy.

Question:

Can an IRA beneficiary do a “partial” disclaimer or is a full disclaimer required? Thanks.

Answer:

A beneficiary can disclaim all or part of an IRA that they inherit. A full disclaimer of all the inherited IRA assets is not required.

Content Citation Guidelines

Below is the required verbiage that must be added to any re-branded piece from Ed Slott and Company, LLC or IRA Help, LLC. The verbiage must be used any time you take text from a piece and put it onto your own letterhead, within your newsletter, on your website, etc. Verbiage varies based on where you’re taking the content from.

Please be advised that prior to distributing re-branded content, you must send a proof to [email protected] for approval.

For white papers/other outflow pieces:

Copyright © [year of publication], [Ed Slott and Company, LLC or IRA Help, LLC – depending on what it says on the original piece] Reprinted with permission [Ed Slott and Company, LLC or IRA Help, LLC – depending on what it says on the original piece] takes no responsibility for the current accuracy of this information.

For charts:

Copyright © [year of publication], Ed Slott and Company, LLC Reprinted with permission Ed Slott and Company, LLC takes no responsibility for the current accuracy of this information.

For Slott Report articles:

Copyright © [year of article], Ed Slott and Company, LLC Reprinted from The Slott Report, [insert date of article], with permission. [Insert article URL] Ed Slott and Company, LLC takes no responsibility for the current accuracy of this article.

Please contact Matt Smith at [email protected] or (516) 536-8282 with any questions.