[Rebecca Burke]

I inherited a 403(b) retirement fund from my father and would like to move it to another brokerage without this constituting a distribution for tax purposes. I have gotten conflicting advice on how to do this. The IRS apparently permits trustee to trustee transfers of inherited IRAs if the fund is retained in the name of the original owner and is held by an IRA trustee such as a brokerage firm, but it is not clear whether this applies to 403(b) plans. Does anyone have any experience with this?

[Michael Devault]

Revenue Ruling 90-24 permits the transfer of 403(b) money from one vendor to another. In relevent part, this ruling holds that "...it is irrelevant whether a complete interest or a partial interest is transferred, and whether the transferring individual is a current employee, a former employee, or the beneficiary of a former employee."

Thus, it is possible for a beneficiary to make a trustee-to-trustee transfer of 403(b) funds, just as long as the ownership structure provides clear evidence that it is an inherited account. Something along the lines of "Jane Doe, beneficiary of John Smith, deceased" is a structure that is fairly common on both IRAs and 403(b)s.

I hope this helps.