Roth IRA contributions must be based on earnings as an employee or from self-employment. Executor fees, while included in gross income, are not treated as self-employment income for someone who is not in the trade or business of being an executor (i.e., someone who serves as one for a relative).
A husband and wife who are required to live apart from each other by the terms of a decree of separate maintenance. Payments under the decree are deductible by the payor and taxable to the payee as alimony.