IRA's that have a named benificuary do not pass through the estate. They go directly from the financial institution that is the custodian of the account to the benificuary. The estate executor would not necessarily have any knowledge of the account or responsibility. Only if there was no named benificuary or the estate itself was the benificuary would the estate be involved, but in that case the estates beneficiaries receive a K-1 from the estate, not a 1099-R.
**Disclaimer: This post is for discussion purposes only and is NOT tax advice. The author takes no responsibility for the accuracy of any information in this post.**
