My father was over the age of 71 when he died, and had not yet taken his mandatory distribution for this year (2010). My question is: Do we need to take a mandatory distribution from the undivided IRA this year in the amount my father would have had to take? Or do we ignore the distribution this year and start our mandatory distributions individually next year? --SK via email
After you turn 70 and a half, you must take a yearly minimum distribution from your IRA, and the year of your death is no exception. If you die before taking your required minimum distribution, your heirs must take it for you.
You say your father was over 71 when he died. Assuming he turned 70 and a half in 2009, he did indeed have to take a minimum 2010 IRA distribution.
Your deadline for taking his 2010 distribution for him is this December 31. To calculate the correct amount for that distribution, use the Uniform Table for Determining Lifetime Distributions. It's at the back of IRS Publication 529, which you can download here.
That actuarial table is only for IRA owners. To calculate your own required distributions, you and your siblings should use the Single Life Expectancy Table For Inherited IRAs, which you'll find in the same publication. As you say, your deadline for taking your distributions is December 31, 2011 -- the end of the year after your father's death.
Your father left the IRA to a trust to be divided between his three children. Assuming the wording of the trust allows it, each of you can take his or her share as an Inherited IRA -- but all three of you must use the life expectancy of the oldest to determine your required distributions, says Barry C. Picker, a Brooklyn tax accountant and IRA expert. (Other IRA owners, take note: That's one of the drawbacks of leaving an IRA to a trust for several beneficiaries. They can't each base required distributions on their own life expectancies.)
To determine the correct amount, divide your share on December 31 of the previous year -- i.e., 2010 -- by the life expectancy factor on the IRS table.
If the oldest will be 49 in 2011, for example, his life expectancy factor is 35.1.
If your share of the IRA is $25,000 on December 31 2010, your minimum annual withdrawal in 2011 would be $712.25 -- $25,000 divided by 35.1. Every year, your withdrawal will be based on the account balance at the end of the previous year; and every year, you'll reduce the original life expectancy factor by 1. (In 2012, your life expectancy factor will be 34.1; in 2013, it will be 33.1, etc.)
Of course, you can always take out more than the minimum. And as an IRA beneficiary, you don't own an early withdrawal penalty on distributions regardless of your age.
Please send your questions to [email protected]. I'm sorry I can't respond personally to every email. Questions are only addressed online.
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