When a spouse dies, most often the surviving spouse simply rolls the decedents IRA into their own. This works great if you are over 59.5 yrs. old. Recently, I met with a widow who is only 57 and needs income. She told me she wanted to receive her husband’s IRA as an inherited IRA; I have never seen this done by a spousal beneficiary before. Generally, inherited IRA accounts are opened when a non-spousal beneficiary receives an IRA due to death of the owner.
It turns out that a spouse can open an inherited IRA also, take withdrawals immediately, and avoid the 10% early withdrawal penalty.
I love learning new things – don’t you?

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