IRA Beneficiary

Can a spouse beneficiary (sole 100% primary beneficiary) of a deceased IRA owner use the 60 day rollover rule if they want to transfer the IRA from one financial firm to another?



Yes, but a 60 day rollover to the surviving spouse’s IRA is subject to the one rollover limit per 12 months, and the beneficiary may not even have such a rollover available. To avoid possible issues, the beneficiary should advise the current custodian that they are electing to assume ownership of the inherited IRA. That is not a reported distribution, but the client can then do another non reportable direct transfer to the desired new custodian. This will result in the client still having a 60 day rollover available for the next 12 months. This also eliminates any tax reporting since no 1099R would be issued for either of those changes.



Add new comment

Log in or register to post comments