By Ian Berger, JD
IRA Analyst
Question:
I have a client who died last month. She would have been age 83 this year. She had an IRA. Her husband, age 87, was the beneficiary of the IRA. She did not take her required minimum distribution (RMD) for 2025 before she died. He intends to do a spousal rollover by transferring the funds to his own IRA. Does he need to take the RMD prior to moving the funds?
Thank you!
Julie
Answer:
Hi Julie,
No, the husband can take the RMD after doing the rollover to his own IRA. That might be easier because it could be combined with his own 2025 RMD, which he must take from his existing IRA. In any case, he must take his wife’s 2025 year-of-death RMD by 12/31/26.
Question:
I am turning 73 years old in 2025. I am still working, so I know I don’t need to start taking required minimum distributions (RMDs) from my 401(k) because my plan has the “still working” provision. All of my IRAs have been converted to Roth IRAs. I do a backdoor Roth each year on January 1. My question is: Do I need to take an RMD on the $8,000 before I convert it to a Roth IRA?
Clinton
Answer:
Hi Clinton,
No. You would only have an RMD due for 2025 if you have a traditional IRA balance as of 12/31/24, but you did not have any traditional IRAs as of that date. As long as you convert the $8,000 before the end of the year, you will never have an RMD on those dollars, because lifetime RMDs are not required on Roth IRAs.
If you have technical questions you would like to have answered, be sure to submit them to mailbag@irahelp.com, to be answered on an upcoming Slott Report Mailbag, published every Thursday.
https://irahelp.com/year-of-death-rmd-and-rmd-on-backdoor-roth-todays-slott-report-mailbag/