The short answer
Usually not right away, but the choice is hard to reverse. A surviving spouse often has more than one way to receive these accounts. Which one suits you depends on your age and on when you will need the money.
Ask before you move anything. One question is worth asking right away: whether he still had a withdrawal to take for the year he died.
This chapter explains how things usually work in the United States. It is not legal, tax or financial advice, and the rules where you live may differ. Before you act on anything here, check it with one of the people named at the end of the chapter.
What to do
- List every retirement account and who holds it.
- Ask each custodian for the claim forms.
- Ask what choices a spouse has, and whether any has a deadline.
- Ask right away whether he still had a withdrawal to take for the year he died.
- Take the answers to a fee-only financial planner and a tax preparer before choosing.
- Update the beneficiaries on your own accounts.
What can wait
- Investment changes inside the accounts.
- Moving the accounts to another firm. The question about his withdrawal for the year he died does not belong on this list. Ask it now.
Who can help
The custodian or the plan can explain each choice, in writing. A fee-only financial planner can go through the choices with you; the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors has a “Find an Advisor” search at napfa.org. A helper, or a librarian at your public library, can run that search with you.
A CPA or an enrolled agent can tell you what each choice may mean for your taxes before you take any money out.
The rules, phone numbers and web addresses in this book were checked against the agencies’ own pages in October 2026. They change, so check anything you rely on with the office itself.
From Book 2: The Money
This page has the short answer and the closing lists from chapter 4. The full chapter explains, in plain words, what exists, what to ask, and who can answer. The book covers months 1 to 6.
Hear when the next book is out
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