IRA contribution - qualified status, age limit

[t.haley]

Employee/husband takes valid in-service distribution from 401k plan and rolls it over to a qualified IRA. At time of rollover employee/husband is age 73. Original IRA application names husband and wife as joint owners and joint annuitants. A month after the rollover contribution is made, the IRA is changed through a written amendment to remove the wife as a joint owner. Three years later the husband dies and wife "takes over" as new IRA owner (pursuant to terms of the IRA) and receives the annuity payments. She is now filing bankruptcy and claiming the IRA as exempt property.

I have been unable to find any information on whether the qualified status of the IRA should be questioned because there were "joint owners" when the IRA was opened and the rollover contribution made. Does the later amendment "save" the qualified status?

Also, I have found information on IRS website stating that individuals over age 70 1/2 cannot make traditional contributions to a qualified IRA but there is no such age limit for rollover contributions. However, I cannot find a cite to a statute or regulation for this. I assume that the rollover contribution made by the employee/husband was valid even though he was age 73 at the time. My client is looking for statutory or regulatory authority for this.

Any information and/or insights would be appreciated!

[spiritrider]

INDIVIDUAL Retirement Account -> JOINT owners???

[t.haley]

spriritrider - Yes! after the IRA was issued the company realized the mistake and had the employee/husband sign a written amendment removing his wife as a joint owner but leaving her as a joint annuitant. What I am trying to determine is whether such a mistake can be corrected or whether it "taints" the IRA from the beginning.

[QDROphile]

How can something that is impossible taint the IRA just because some incorrect words appeared in the paperwork? A paperwork correction to reflect what happened, and the only thing that could have happened, is not a problem. The IRA might have a problem if it were somehow actually operated (meaning distributions, mainly) in a way that would have been improper for an IRA of the husband.