Should I Transfer My IRA to My Spouse in My Estate?
There are many different rules associated with passing on an IRA to a beneficiary.
In addition to filling out the company specific forms to determine the designated beneficiary to receive these account assets, it’s important to decide which person in your family for whom it makes the most sense to receive these particular benefits.
In the event that a person inherits an IRA from a deceased spouse, the survivor gets the most leeway in terms of the available choices. These choices include:
- Treating the IRA as if it were their own retirement account and renaming it in their legal name.
- Treating the new recipient as the beneficiary of the plan.
- Rolling over the IRA into another account such as a qualified employer plan or another IRA and treating the IRA as if it were their own.
There are additional choices and decision points that might be raised by each course of action. The age of the account beneficiary at the time that the IRA is inherited could also have important tax implications.
A spouse is not the only person who is eligible to receive an IRA, but it might make the most sense as they have more choices available to them than other types of beneficiaries. Sit down with your experienced estate planning attorney in Virginia Beach to discuss the options available to you and whether or not a spouse makes the most sense as the beneficiary.
