Estate Tax and Spouse's IRA Account

[PacoinAZ]

A decedent was married and lived in a community property state. He owned both regular and Roth IRA accounts. His spouse also owns both regular and Roth IRA accounts. All accounts were funded when they were married and were not inheritance or gift. My understanding is that his gross estate asset includes his IRA accounts regardless of whom their beneficiaries are.

1. Does his gross estate asset include his 50% share of the spouse’s IRA accounts if he was named as the primary beneficiary of all of his spouse’s IRA accounts?

2. Does his gross estate asset include his share of the spouse’s IRA accounts if he was named as neither the primary nor the alternate beneficiary of all of his spouse’s IRA accounts?

[qbteachmt]

You seem to have a mix of Divorce legal ownership rights and Estate/tax issues here and it isn't clear why you are asking. If the beneficiary of a retirement account dies before that provision is triggered, there is no ownership now of the spouse's accounts, unless the spouse also dies without changing the beneficiary. The retirement account of the spouse would not be distributable as part of the deceased person's estate, for instance. And in some States, retirement accounts are protected from legal actions.

I recommend asking a lawyer in your region.