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Inherited IRA with no Beneficiary

FTPhil
Level 3

I have a client whose spouse inherited an IRA (Before the 10-year rule). When they opened the Inherited IRA they did not name beneficiaries. The owner of the Inherited IRA has died (After the 10-year rule). The account will go to probate, and the living spouse will inherit it.

My question is, what type of account does the living spouse open? Would it be an inherited IRA in the name of the deceased spouse, or does it remain in the name of the originally deceased individual, and does the 10-year rule now apply?

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4 Comments 4
BobKamman
Level 15

The survivor will inherit the proceeds from the estate, but it can't be rolled over to another inherited IRA.  They change the rules so often on these -- isn't it five years for the estate to withdraw the funds, and pay tax on them?  Not easy to research.  

FTPhil
Level 3

I think I found the best answer - 

The original owner died before 1/1/2020; then the original beneficiary died on or after 1/1/2020. In this scenario, the successor beneficiary is required to continue taking annual RMDs based on the same calculation that the original beneficiary was using. In addition, the 10-year rule will start to apply as well. So, the successor beneficiary must take annual RMDs and must withdraw the entire balance of the retirement account within 10 years after inheriting the account.

There will be a new inherited IRA opened for the successor beneficiary, but RMDs will be based off of the original beneficiary's DOB, and the account will have to be depleted within 10 years. 

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BobKamman
Level 15

But I think that applies only when the inherited IRA had named a beneficiary.  If you can find a trustee willing to open a new account for the estate, good luck!

BobKamman
Level 15

Then there is this example:

Example: George, age 75, owns a traditional IRA. George dies with his brother, Jeb, named as his primary IRA beneficiary, i.e., Jeb is the designated beneficiary of the IRA. George has also named Jeb’s daughters (George’s nieces) as the contingent beneficiaries of George’s IRA. Jeb, age 73, qualifies as an eligible designated beneficiary because Jeb is less than 10 years younger than George. Nine months after George’s death Jeb dies before he has completed the paperwork necessary to claim George’s IRA. The assets held in George’s IRA are not paid or distributed to the named contingent beneficiaries of the IRA, George’s nieces. Jeb, as an eligible designated beneficiary is deemed to have created an inherited stretch IRA. The IRA custodial document identifies Jeb’s estate as his default beneficiary. An estate-owned inherited IRA is established. Since Jeb was an eligible designated beneficiary who was allowed to stretch required minimum distributions, Jeb’s estate, as successor beneficiary, receives a ‘fresh’ 10-years in which to take distributions from the inherited IRA. Required minimum distributions (RMDs) are required to be taken by the estate from the IRA based on Jeb’s single life expectancy, and Jeb’s estate-owned IRA must be emptied by the end of the 10th year.

https://greenleaftrust.com/missives/death-of-an-ira-beneficiary/

If you want to keep the estate open for 10 years, you can do it.  But the account will belong to the estate, not the surviving spouse.  Withdraw every year, file a 1041 with a K-1?  Probably better just to bite the bullet and close the account now, or  maybe withdraw some of it now and the rest in January to spread it between two years.  

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