Suckafish

Thank you! The agent indicated that the regulations prohibit the surviving spouse from taking over the contract by rolling it into her IRA. The agent said they could either roll over the proceeds to an IRA or take the cash as a taxable distribution. I could not find authority on this.

Can a spouse beneficiary of a 403(b) tax-deferred annuity take-over the contract (i.e., assume it "as is"), or does it need to be surrendered with the proceeds eligible for rollover treatment? What is the authority for disallowing the survivor from taking over the contract?