peggysioux5 Posted March 12 Report Posted March 12 New client’s husband passed away in September of 2023. Wife did nothing with the IRA account after husband’s passing and the account is still listed under husband’s social security number in March of 2025. She provided a statement for 2024 showing he should have taken RMD in 2024 and did not (I know, he passed away so difficult to take the RMD…..). If taxpayer (the wife who was 65 in 2024 so no RMD requirement for her at this point) now contacts the financial institution to roll over the decedent's IRA into her IRA, is there an RMD requirement for 2024 by her as beneficiary in 2024? Peggy Sioux Quote
TexTaxToo Posted March 12 Report Posted March 12 A spouse can choose to treat the IRA as their own or to be treated as a beneficiary. From Pub 590-B, for a spouse: Quote You will be considered to have chosen to treat the IRA as your own if: Contributions (including rollover contributions) are made to the inherited IRA, or You don't take the required minimum distribution for a year as a beneficiary of the IRA. You will only be considered to have chosen to treat the IRA as your own if: You are the sole beneficiary of the IRA, and You have an unlimited right to withdraw amounts from it. 2 Quote
jklcpa Posted March 12 Report Posted March 12 The way the original post was worded makes it unclear if the 2024 RMD notice was to be the first distribution. We know only that the 2024 RMD wasn't taken, so we don't know if RMDs were required in years prior to that or if the deceased husband passed away before, on, or after the required distribution date. The original post also didn't include age of deceased husband to know if the wife was not more than 10 years younger. In addition to what TexTaxToo posted above, these facts will also affect wife's options going forward: whether she can treat account as her own, when distributions must start, and which life expectancy table to use . All of that information is in pub 590-B. 2 Quote
peggysioux5 Posted March 13 Author Report Posted March 13 Based on the information that TexTaxToo posted, it sounds like being the wife took no distribution in 2024 and she is the sole beneficiary then the IRA is now deemed to be her IRA.....doesn't she need to update the IRA into her name and social? Quote
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