RMD Rules for Married Couples: How to Coordinate Two IRAs

When both spouses have IRAs, RMDs don't combine — they compound. Here's how to calculate, coordinate, and minimize required distributions across two accounts, two ages, and a survivor scenario.

5/4/2026
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Required minimum distributions are often discussed as if they belong to one person. In practice, married couples face a more complex problem: two separate IRA owners, potentially different ages, different account balances, and — eventually — the inheritance rules that kick in when one spouse dies.

Getting RMD coordination wrong can mean paying more in taxes than necessary, losing control over which accounts grow longest, or inadvertently triggering IRMAA surcharges that could have been avoided.

The basics: RMDs are calculated per account, per owner

The IRS requires each IRA owner to calculate and take their own RMD. You cannot take your spouse's RMD from your account, and your spouse cannot take yours. Each account is subject to its own calculation using the IRS Uniform Lifetime Table (Publication 590-B).1

The formula:

RMD = Prior year-end account balance ÷ IRS life expectancy factor

At age 73 (the RMD start age under SECURE 2.0 for those born 1951–19592), the Uniform Lifetime Table factor is 26.5. At 75, it's 24.6. The factor decreases each year, forcing a larger percentage withdrawal as you age.

Using QCDs to reduce Bill's taxable RMD

A Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD) allows IRA owners aged 70½ or older to transfer up to $105,000 per year (indexed for inflation from 2024 onward3) directly from an IRA to a qualified charity. The amount counts toward the RMD but is excluded from taxable income — it never appears on your AGI.

For Bill, who must take $37,398 from his IRA, directing $10,000 of that as a QCD to a qualified charity reduces his taxable RMD to $27,398 — a direct reduction in MAGI, potentially keeping him below an IRMAA threshold or in a lower tax bracket.

QCD rules:

  • Must be paid directly from the IRA custodian to the charity
  • Does not qualify for a charitable deduction (since it was never in taxable income)
  • Cannot go to a donor-advised fund or private foundation
  • The IRA owner, not the spouse, must be 70½+

The spousal rollover: what happens when Bill dies first

When an IRA owner dies, the surviving spouse has options that no other beneficiary has. Specifically, Carol can:

  1. Roll Bill's IRA into her own IRA — She becomes the owner. RMDs restart on her schedule using her age and the Uniform Lifetime Table. This is usually optimal when Carol is younger than Bill and wants to defer distributions.

  2. Treat it as an inherited IRA — Carol takes distributions under inherited IRA rules, which can be beneficial if she is under 59½ and needs penalty-free access.

  3. Open an inherited IRA in Bill's name — Less common, but useful in specific situations where Carol wants to delay rollovers or where estate planning dictates separation.

The SECURE 2.0 change: non-spouse beneficiaries

If Carol is not the beneficiary — say, Bill named his adult children — the rules are materially different. Under the SECURE Act (2019) and SECURE 2.0 (2022), most non-spouse beneficiaries must deplete inherited IRAs within 10 years of the original owner's death.4

Further, if Bill had already begun taking RMDs, beneficiaries must also take annual RMDs during the 10-year window (the IRS finalized these rules in 2024 after years of guidance delays).5

This has significant implications for couples who have named children as contingent or primary beneficiaries:

  • A $920,000 IRA inherited by two adult children means each must withdraw roughly $46,000/year for 10 years, likely pushing them into higher brackets during their peak earning years.
  • Naming Carol as primary beneficiary with children as contingent is often the most tax-efficient structure, giving Carol flexibility and delaying the 10-year clock.

Practical coordination checklist for married couples

  • Review beneficiary designations annually — especially after major life events (divorce, death, birth of grandchildren).
  • Calculate both spouses' projected RMDs at ages 73, 75, 80, and 85 to identify IRMAA exposure windows.
  • Model Roth conversion amounts for the younger spouse during their pre-RMD years to reduce future required distributions.
  • Confirm that QCD elections are documented with the custodian before year-end.
  • Keep a copy of Form 8606 for any non-deductible IRA basis — it survives the death of the account owner.

Disclaimer: This article is for educational purposes only. RMD rules are complex and depend on your specific beneficiary designations, account structures, and birth years. Consult a CPA and estate planning attorney.

References

Footnotes

  1. IRS Publication 590-B — Distributions from Individual Retirement Arrangements. https://www.irs.gov/publications/p590b ↩

  2. SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 — Section 107 (RMD Age Increase). https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/2954/text ↩

  3. IRS Notice 2023-75 — QCD Limit Indexing for Inflation. https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/n-23-75.pdf ↩

  4. SECURE Act of 2019 — 10-Year Distribution Rule for Non-Spouse Beneficiaries. https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/1994/text ↩

  5. IRS Final Regulations — RMDs Under SECURE and SECURE 2.0 (TD 10001, July 2024). https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/retirement-plans-faqs-regarding-required-minimum-distributions ↩