Heirs Finally Get an Answer From IRS About Money in Inherited Retirement Accounts - WSJ

[progree]

8. To be clear, a married couple filing taxes jointly (and who inherit an account) are also subject jointly to the

Last edited Tue Jul 23, 2024, 06:20 PM - Edit history (1)

10 year requirement just as a single person is. And under the new rules, must take a minimum amount each year rather than being allowed to hoard it all until year 10. So the married couple doesn't get any breaks. [1]

If one spouse then dies, the other spouse automatically becomes the new sole owner and continues to follow the same rules as before (though the surviving spouse's tax bracket might increase as often happens). So if the spouse dies in year 4 of the 10 year period, for example, the surviving spouse still has 6 remaining years to empty out the account (again with annual minimum RMDs under the new rules. Edited to add: Maybe the RMDs change under the new rules, I don't know /Edit).

I don't know what happens if a single person who inherited an IRA account dies (or the remaining spouse dies), I *think* their inheritor(s) (children, siblings, friends, whoever is on the retirement accounts beneficiary form) gets to continue with the same schedule, just like the surviving spouse in the above paragraph.

[1] Edited to add Actually I'm confused a bit about the joint thing. Lets say I'm married to Sally. My sister passes away and I am named the beneficiary (not my spouse and I). That would usually be the case -- that a person, not a couple -- is the named beneficiary. So it's my IRA as far as tax rules, not Sally and mine. But that doesn't make a difference I don't *think* in RMD requirements or the amount of taxes paid if we are filing married filing jointly.

2nd Edit I'm not a tax professional. Nor have I ever been married. I read a lot on taxes, including how married couples are affected, but I haven't ever filed taxes as married.