@SLYKTAX
You may need to check with the broker. From the language you quoted (and remember I can’t see it myself) it sounds as though you are being asked to waive your ERISA rights for all future distributions. It should be possible to waive your ERISA rights one distribution at a time, if that makes you more comfortable. In other words, a one time approval rather than a blanket future approval.
Also to clarify: an RMD is not a single special transaction. It is a dollar amount that you, or in this case your spouse, is required to withdraw over the course of the year based on the account balance and their life expectancy. They can withdraw more if they want, to spend for any reason. But they must withdraw at least the minimum amount sometime during the year. For example, suppose your spouse were to withdraw $500 per month for living expenses. If the RMD is $4000, then it will have already been satisfied by the monthly withdrawals and an additional separate “RMD“ withdrawal is not needed.
With that clarification, you will want to be aware of what you are signing. If you are being asked to waive your ERISA rights for all future withdrawals, that would allow your spouse to leave or divorce you and fully withdraw the account, even though a divorced spouse is usually entitled to a share of protected retirement accounts like this. Of course, we never expected these things to happen to us, and if you have your own retirement accounts, it may not be a worry even if the unexpected were to happen.
All this commentary is to simply try to help you understand what you are being asked to sign. (Some types of plans are not covered by ERISA and so the approval of the other spouse is not needed.)
