death benefit
What is the most efficient idea for me to take my husband’s IRA? Do I need to take his RMD this year
Terry Says
That depends on when he passed away. If he died in 2020 or 2021, there are new rules, which I will cut and paste below. If he died earlier, then you can still stretch out the growth of his IRA. Please discuss this with your IRA custodian, but here are the basics:
As a surviving spouse, you have one option that nobody else has: rolling over inherited IRA assets into an IRA in your name and treating those assets as if they were your own. This may be a good choice if you don’t have an immediate need to tap into your spouse’s IRA assets and you are looking to keep the money in a tax-advantaged account for as long as possible. If you have not reached age 72, but your spouse had, this option enables you to delay taking distributions until you reach age 72 rather than continuing your spouse’s RMDs.
Additionally, should your spouse have already begun taking RMDs but not taken the required amount before their passing, you will need to take the RMD for the current year. This RMD is calculated based on your age, your spouse’s age, and the appropriate corresponding life expectancy per IRS rules.
Read the entire article on Fidelity’s website at this link.
