Death Benefit
The death benefit in a qualified Contract is taxable to the recipient in the same manner as if paid to the Contract owner or plan participant (under the rules for withdrawals or income payments, whichever is applicable).
RMD amounts are required to be distributed from a Qualified annuity Contract (including a contract issued as a Roth IRA) following your death. Congress recently changed the RMD rules for individuals who die after 2019. The after-death RMD rules are complex, and you should consult your tax adviser about how they may apply to your situation.
Effective January 1, 2020, when an IRA owner or participant in a defined contribution plan dies, any remaining interest generally must be distributed within 10 years (or in some cases five years) after his or her death, unless an exception applies. An exception permits an “eligible designated beneficiary” to take distributions over life or a period not exceeding life expectancy, subject to special rules and limitations. An “eligible designated beneficiary” includes: the IRA owner/participant’s spouse or minor child (until the child reaches age of majority), certain disabled or chronically ill individuals, and an individual who is not more than 10 years younger than the IRA owner/participant. We may limit any payment option over life, or a period not exceeding life expectancy, to certain categories of eligible designated beneficiary.
Generally, distributions under this exception must start by the end of the year following your death. However, if your surviving spouse is the sole designated beneficiary, distributions may generally be delayed until December 31 of the year you would have attained age 72 (age 70½ if you were born or before June 30, 1949), if your Contract permits.
If you die after annuity payments have already begun under a Qualified Contract, any remaining payments under the contract also must be made in accordance with the RMD rules. In some cases, those rules may require that the remaining payments be made over a shorter period than originally elected or otherwise adjusted to comply with the tax law.
If your surviving spouse is the sole designated beneficiary of your Traditional or Roth IRA, then your surviving spouse may elect to treat the Traditional or Roth IRA as his or her own.
Your designated beneficiary is the person to whom benefit rights under the Contract pass by reason of death. The beneficiary generally must be a natural person in order to elect a periodic payment option based on life expectancy or a period exceeding five years. Different tax rules may apply if your Beneficiary is not a natural person, such as your estate.
Alternatively, your spouse may be able to roll over the death proceeds into another eligible retirement plan in which he or she participates, if permitted under the receiving plan, or he or she may elect to rollover the death proceeds into his or her own IRA, or he or she may elect to transfer the death proceeds into an inherited IRA.
If your beneficiary is not your spouse and your plan and Contract permit, your beneficiary may be able to rollover the death proceeds via a direct trustee-to-trustee transfer into an inherited IRA. However, a non-spouse beneficiary may not treat the inherited IRA as his or her own IRA.
Additionally, for contracts issued in connection with qualified plans subject to ERISA, the spouse or ex-spouse of the participant may have rights in the contract. In such a case, the participant may need the consent of the spouse or ex-spouse to change annuity options or make a withdrawal from the contract.
Required Minimum Distributions During the Owner’s Life
Generally, you must begin receiving RMD amounts from your qualified Contract by the Required Beginning Date. Generally, for retirement plans, the “Required Beginning Date” is April 1 following the latter of:
(a)
the calendar year in which you reach age 72 (age 70½ if you were born on or before June 30, 1949); or
(b)
the calendar year you retire, provided you do not own more than 5% of the outstanding stock, capital, or profits of your employer.
For IRAs (including SEPs and SIMPLEs) the Required Beginning Date by which you must begin receiving withdrawals is the year in which you attain age 72 (age 70½ if you were born on or before June 30, 1949) even if you have not retired, taking your first distribution no later than April 1 of the year after you reach age 72 (age 70½ if you were born on or before June 30, 1949).
For all subsequent years, including the first year in which you took your RMD by April 1, you must take the required minimum distribution for the year by December 31st. This will require you to take two distributions in the same calendar year if you wait to take your first distribution until April 1 of the year after attaining age 72 (age 70½ if you were born on or before June 30, 1949).
A tax penalty of 50% applies to the shortfall of any required minimum distributions you fail to receive.