Наследники IRA рискуют штрафами из-за «призрачного» срока жизни умершего владельца

You’d think there’d be certain things we’d all agree on easily — like the fact that a deceased person doesn’t have a life expectancy. But according to the IRS, that’s not always true. In certain situations involving inherited IRAs, a dead person’s life expectancy is still very much in play, and getting it wrong can be an expensive mistake. Here’s the setup: when an estate (or another “non-person,” like a trust that doesn’t qualify as a see-through trust) inherits an IRA, one of two rules kicks in, depending on timing. If the original IRA owner died before their Required Beginning Date (the age at which RMDs must start), the estate has to empty the account within five years. No annual withdrawals required — just a hard deadline. But if the owner died on or after their Required Beginning Date, a different rule applies: the estate must take annual distributions based on what the deceased owner’s own remaining single life expectancy would have been, had they lived. That’s the “ghost-life rule” — the IRS calculating payout schedules based on a life expectancy that, technically, no longer exists. Here’s why this matters in real dollars. Say Sal dies at 87, well past his Required Beginning Date, and leaves his IRA to his estate. His son Manny, age 40, inherits through the estate. Because the estate — not Manny — is the named beneficiary, Manny doesn’t get the 10-year window he’d have had if his father had simply named him directly. Instead, he’s locked into annual withdrawals based on his father’s remaining single life expectancy, which at 87 is short. Miss that calculation, and you risk either draining the account too fast and losing years of tax-deferred growth, or under-distributing and triggering a 25% IRS penalty on the shortfall (reducible to 10% if corrected quickly, but still real money). One more wrinkle: Roth IRAs never fall under the ghost-life rule. Since Roth owners are never subject to lifetime RMDs, they’re always treated as having died before their Required Beginning Date — so a Roth inherited by an estate always follows the simpler 5-year rule. As a CFP® and a member of Ed Slott’s Master Elite IRA Advisor Group™, I track these changes so my clients don’t have to guess. The full breakdown — how the ghost-life rule works, why it depends on timing, and what it could mean for your own IRA beneficiaries — is on my website. Julia Peloso-Barnes, CFP®, is CEO/Sr. Wealth Adviser and Founder of Prism Planning and Solutions Group, a dba of PPSGRP, LLC (PPS), an SEC Registered Investment Advisor. Julia is also a member of the Ed Slott Master Elite Advisor Group and has been helping clients seek empowerment through collaborative problem-solving for more than 30 years. Learn more here. Neither Prism Planning and Solutions Group nor PPS provide tax or legal advice, and nothing in this communication should be treated as such. This communication should not be interpreted as a recommendation for a specific investment, legal or tax-planning strategy. We provide this material for informational purposes only. We have not independently verified all information and it may not reflect the most current regulatory guidance. This article discusses general tax and legal considerations and should not be relied upon as legal or tax advice. Before making any decisions related to your own tax, legal and/or investment situation you should consult the appropriate professionals. Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. (CFP Board) owns the certification marks CFP®, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER®, and CFP® (with plaque design) in the United States, which it authorizes use of by individuals who successfully complete CFP Board’s initial and ongoing certification requirements.