If the reporter cashed the check for the month of death (and any later months), do not ask for a refund. Advise the reporter that the Treasury Department (TD) may request the funds back from the bank that cashed the check for a period of up to 12 months from the month that SSA learns of the death.
For example, if 5% of your non-Roth IRA are non-deductible contributions, then 5% of the conversion amount must be non-deductible contributions, and the rest must come from the deductible contributions, including earnings and rollover contributions.
Depending on your income eligibility, you can make deductible contributions to a rollover IRA. But if you do -- or if you move the lump sum into an existing IRA -- the transaction loses rollover status, which means you can't roll it back into a 401(k) or similar retirement plan at a subsequent job.