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Beneficiary Required Minimum Distributions (RMD) - Spouse Inherited IRA Current Year

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The IRS Code provides special rules that apply when original account owner's beneficiary is his/her spouse. The spouse beneficiary may elect to treat the inherited account as his/her own. The spouse beneficiary can also elect to not treat the inherited IRA as his/her own. Use this calculator to determine the Required Minimum Distributions (RMD) as a spouse beneficiary electing not to treat the inherited IRA as his/her own. Use this calculator to create a hypothetical projection of your future Required Minimum Distributions (RMD). The IRS Code provides special rules that apply when original account owner's beneficiary is his/her spouse. The spouse beneficiary may elect to treat the inherited account as his/her own.

Beneficiary Required Minimum Distributions (RMD) - Spouse Inherited IRA Current Year Definitions

Calculation notes
**2024_RMD_CALCULATION_NOTE**
Life expectancy calculations
Life expectancy is determined using the Single Life Expectancy table and the spouse beneficiary's age on December 31st. The first year for an RMD is the year following the owner's death unless the original account owner died before RMDs were required. In this case the first RMD for the spouse beneficiary is the year that the original account owner would have attained the age for RMDs to begin. In all future years, once RMDs have begun, the remaining life expectancy is 'recalculated' each year based on the spouse beneficiary's age as of December 31st of that calendar year.

Another option a spouse beneficiary can elect is to take an inherited account and treat it as his or her own. In this case, no distributions are required until the year in which the spouse reaches age 75 (or 70 1/2 if you were born before 7/1/1949, 72 if you were born 7/1/1949 to 12/31/1951, 73 if you were born 1/1/1951 to 1/1/1960). When distributions do begin, the spouse can use the Uniform Lifetime Table, which produces longer life expectancies than the Single Life Expectancy table, to determine the applicable life expectancy. In addition, a spouse is able to 'recalculate' or lookup a new life expectancy from the Uniform Lifetime Table each year. This produces the lowest RMD in all but the most unusual situations. This calculator will always assume that a spouse does not wish to treat an inherited IRA as their own.

Year of RMD
The year to calculate the Required Minimum Distribution (RMD). This is typically the current year. Change the year to calculate a previous year's RMD.
Beneficiary's name
Please enter the account beneficiary's name.
Beneficiary's birthdate
Please enter the account beneficiary's birthdate.
Name of account
Please enter the name of the account for this analysis.
Amount Subject to RMD
Mutual fund accounts use the previous year-end value. Variable annuity contracts use the actuarial year-end contract value, which may include living and death benefits, when determining the RMD amount. For variable annuity contracts, contact the issuing company for this information.
Date of the original account owner's death
Please enter the date of the original account owner's death.
Plan type
Please enter the plan type. The plan type can affect distributions if the account owner is younger than the beneficiary and RMDs have already begun.
Original account owner's birthdate
Please enter the original account owner's birthdate.