Where the death of an annuitant under an RRIF is followed very shortly by the death of the surviving spouse, can the income inclusion under s. 146.3(6) be to the surviving spouse, and is such survivor entitled to a deduction under s. 146.3(6) or s. paragraph 60(l)? After noting that, under the s. 146.3(1) definition, an “annuitant” includes the first individual to whom the carrier has undertaken to make qualifying payments (the "First Annuitant"), and after the death of the First Annuitant, also extends to the surviving spouse if the carrier has undertaken to make qualifying payments which (under (b)(i) of the definition) would generally include payments made pursuant to an election made by the First Annuitant (under the RRIF contract or by will) , includes such surviving spouse (the "Survivor Annuitant"), CRA stated (TaxInterpretations translation):
9522107…confirmed that a spouse could potentially qualify as Survivor Annuitant despite not receiving any sum before the spouse’s own death. In this interpretation…the spouse was designated as the survivor annuitant under the RRIF contract. This conclusion continues to be the position of the CRA…where a Spouse is a Survivor Annuitant by virtue of subparagraph (b)(i) of the definition "annuitant" in subsection 146.3(1).
CRA went on to note that “if the death of the Spouse of the First Annuitant occurs before the carrier undertakes to make Payments with the consent of the legal representative of the First Annuitant, then all the conditions [in (b)(ii)] cannot be satisfied… .