Spouse Beneficiary

[Guest Penny40]

Does the spouse need to be 100% primary in order to roll into an IRA of their own? I have a spouse who is 50% and son is 50% primary beneficiaries and the spouse wants to roll her 50% into an IRA of her own.

[Appleby]

For a traditional IRA, even though the spouse must be the sole beneficiary to use the “treat-as own” option, this does not prevent him/her from distributing the 50% and rolling it to his/her own IRA.

What is not allowed if for him/her to transfer ( non-reportable) the amount to his/her IRA or designate the IRA of the deceased as his/her own.