05 Jul How do I treat RMDs from my deceased wife’s IRA?

Q. After my wife died last year, her IRAs became inherited IRAs for me. How are the RMDs and taxes treated on these – is it different from my own IRAs? She was 62 and hadn’t taken from her IRAs yet, and I didn’t take an RMD from her accounts last year. Of my own IRAs, I’ve never had to take an RMD yet because I’m only 64. Thank you in advance.
— Widower

A. We’re very sorry to hear about your wife.

Navigating finances during grief is never easy, so we hope this helps bring some clarity.

You’re in a unique and favorable position under IRS rules, said Matt Rembish, a certified financial planner with OneDigital in Boonton.

“Surviving spouses are classified as `Eligible Designated Beneficiaries,’ which means you have options that other beneficiaries don’t get — most notably, the dreaded “10-year rule” that forces most inherited IRA beneficiaries to empty the account within a decade does not apply to you,” he said.

You have two options.

First, you can treat your wife’s IRAs as your own by rolling them into your existing IRA or transferring them to a new IRA in your name, Rembish said.

RMDs don’t start until you reach RMD age (currently age 73 for those born from 1951–1959).

At 64, you have roughly 9 more years before you’d need to start taking RMDs, he said.

The second option is to leave the accounts titled as inherited IRAs, he said.

“As a surviving spouse, you can delay required distributions until the year your wife would have reached age 73,” he said. “Since she was 62, that would be about 11 years from now.”

The tax treatment is the same whether you roll over or keep as inherited, Rembish said.

Distributions from traditional IRAs are taxed as ordinary income, just like withdrawals from your own IRA. There’s no special penalty or different tax rate — it’s simply added to your taxable income for the year you take the distribution, he said.

“I’d encourage you to work with the custodian — the financial institution holding these accounts — to complete the rollover properly,” he said. “A direct trustee-to-trustee transfer is the safest approach to avoid any unintended tax consequences.”

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This story was originally published in July 2026. 

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