death before turning 70.5

Submitted by william padek on Wed, 2018-07-18 19:10

if a person dies after turning 70, but not before 70.5, is his estate required to take an RMD.? also, does the IRA beneficiary who is 72 required to take an RMD the year of her spouses death?



Submitted by Alan - IRA critic on Wed, 2018-07-18 19:46

  • The first RMD is not required until the required beginning date (RBD). That date is 4/1 of the year following the year the IRA owner reaches 70.5.  Death prior to the RBD results in no RMD being due for the year of death or for both years if death occurs in the year after 70.5, but prior to 4/1 of the following year.
  • Therefore, the estate does not have to take an RMD for the year of death, and neither does any designated beneficiary. A designated beneficiary’s first beneficiary RMD would be for the year following the year the IRA owner passed. For a sole spousal beneficiary, the first beneficiary RMD would not be due until the year the deceased spouse would have reached 70.5, but your question specifies that the decedent had already reached 70.5 but had NOT reached his RBD.
  • In this situation where both spouses are over 70.5, the surviving spouse should elect to assume ownership of the inherited IRA. Then when RMDs do start in the following year, the surviving spouse can use the Uniform table from which RMDs are much less than if the account remained an inherited IRA.


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