{"id":12019,"date":"2025-03-19T20:19:55","date_gmt":"2025-03-19T20:19:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/finderica.com\/?p=12019"},"modified":"2025-03-19T20:19:55","modified_gmt":"2025-03-19T20:19:55","slug":"can-i-withdraw-from-my-late-wifes-ira-and-avoid-taxes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/finderica.com\/?p=12019","title":{"rendered":"Can I Withdraw From My Late Wife\u2019s IRA and Avoid Taxes?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\"ScoreCard<\/p>\n

Dear Penny,<\/span><\/p>\n

I will soon be 90 years old. My wife passed in 2017, and I inherited her IRA account. I now withdraw $1,200 every three months. I would like to be able to use the entire amount at one time, but I don\u2019t want to pay thousands in taxes. What can I do?<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014 Living on Savings<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Dear Living,<\/p>\n

A\u00a0beneficiary of a retirement account<\/a> has to report distributions from the account as part of their gross income in the same way the original account owner would have done.<\/p>\n

Assuming your wife had reached the age where she had to take a required minimum distribution (RMD) from the account, your distribution amounts are also subject to that requirement. (This has changed for folks whose spouse died in 2020 or later; they have the additional option of rolling over the inherited account into their own IRA.) You\u2019ll receive a required minimum distribution (usually quarterly, as you do) based on your life expectancy, or more if you choose a higher distribution, and you have to report that amount as gross income for the year.<\/p>\n

You also have the option to take a lump-sum distribution from the account anytime, and you have to include that amount in your gross income for tax purposes in the year you withdraw it.<\/p>\n

You don\u2019t owe tax on the distributions if this is a Roth IRA, because your wife would have been paying taxes on her contributions up front. You owe tax on withdrawals from a traditional IRA, because contributions would have been tax free when your wife made them.<\/p>\n

Taxes are owed on retirement account contributions because those distributions are income similar to any other income you earn. You can\u2019t legally evade these taxes entirely.<\/p>\n

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You can review the tax brackets for 2024 to get an idea of how much you\u2019d owe if you take a lump sum distribution this year (alongside any other income you\u2019ll claim).\u00a0Tax rates<\/a> for an individual include:\n<\/p>\n