Inherited IRA Rules: What Beneficiaries Should Know

An inherited IRA does not follow one withdrawal schedule for every beneficiary. A surviving spouse may have options that a nonspouse beneficiary does not, and many designated beneficiaries of owners who died in 2020 or later face a 10-year deadline. Depending on when the original owner died relative to their required beginning date, annual required minimum distributions (RMDs) may also apply during that period.

If you have just been named as a beneficiary, the first practical step is to find out who the account owner was, when they died, what kind of beneficiary you are, and whether there are other beneficiaries. Don’t take a distribution or retitle the account based on a generic “inherited IRA calculator” result. The beneficiary category and account facts control the questions to ask.

The first split: spouse or nonspouse beneficiary

A nonspouse beneficiary generally cannot treat an inherited IRA as their own or roll it into or out of their own IRA. The IRS does allow a trustee-to-trustee transfer to another inherited IRA maintained for that same beneficiary. That is a specific transfer path; it is not a permission to move the account into a personal IRA.

A surviving spouse may have options that include treating the inherited IRA as their own, rolling over where permitted, or remaining a beneficiary. Those choices affect distribution timing and RMD calculations. The right path depends on details such as the spouse’s circumstances and the account, so confirm the current IRS rules and custodian procedures before electing an option.

Sources checked November 9, 2026: IRS Publication 590-B (2025 edition), especially “IRA Beneficiaries” and the Roth IRA section “Distributions After Owner's Death”; Treasury's 2024 final regulations for age-of-majority and beneficiary exceptions. Confirm updates for your distribution year.

The 10-year rule and annual RMDs

For an owner who died in 2020 or later, a designated beneficiary who is not an eligible designated beneficiary generally must empty the account by December 31 of the calendar year containing the tenth anniversary of the owner’s death. That is an outside deadline, not necessarily a direction to wait until the final year.

The IRS identifies eligible designated beneficiaries (EDBs) as the surviving spouse, the owner’s minor child, a disabled or chronically ill individual, or a person no more than 10 years younger than the owner. For a nonspouse EDB using life-expectancy payments, the initial Table I divisor generally comes from the beneficiary's age in the year after death and is reduced by one in later years. If the owner died on or after the required beginning date, the owner's remaining life expectancy may instead control when it is longer. Spouse calculations have separate rules.

For an owner's child who qualifies as an EDB only because they are a minor, the federal regulations set majority at the 21st birthday. The remaining account generally must be emptied by December 31 of the year containing the tenth anniversary of that birthday; ongoing life-expectancy payments do not simply stop in the meantime. A child who also meets the disability or chronic-illness definition may retain EDB treatment on that basis. For an IRA, Treasury regulation section 1.408-8(b)(4)(i) says the disability or chronic-illness documentation described in section 1.401(a)(9)-4(e)(7) need not be provided to the IRA trustee, custodian, or issuer. Do not apply the employer-plan submission requirement to an IRA. A surviving spouse who elects owner treatment uses the owner rules instead. These distinctions come from Treasury regulations sections 1.401(a)(9)-4(e) and -5(e); confirm the category-specific rule before calculating a schedule.

The owner’s required beginning date changes the annual RMD calculation. If the owner died before that date, a nonspouse EDB using life-expectancy payments generally starts the following year with the applicable Table I divisor, then reduces that initial divisor by one in each later year. A surviving spouse has separate timing and election rules: the spouse's applicable divisor is determined again each year under the relevant table, not automatically reduced by one from an initial divisor. If the owner died on or after the required beginning date, the beneficiary generally uses the longer of the beneficiary’s and owner’s remaining life expectancies, based on the applicable table.

The annual amount is generally calculated from the prior December 31 account balance divided by the applicable life-expectancy factor. Where the 10-year rule also applies, the balance still must be emptied by the deadline. Use the current Publication 590-B tables and custodian figures for the calculation.

The IRS generally determines the designated beneficiary on September 30 of the calendar year following the owner’s death. That timing can matter where beneficiary status is being established. Keep paperwork showing the owner’s date of death and the beneficiary designation, and ask the custodian how it has recorded the account.

A careful sequence for beneficiaries

First, request the account’s exact registration and beneficiary information. Ask the custodian whether the assets are being held in an inherited IRA for you and how it handles a trustee-to-trustee transfer if one is needed. A nonspouse should be especially careful not to describe the transaction as a transfer to their own IRA.

Second, establish your beneficiary category and the original owner’s relevant dates. If you are a spouse, compare the available options before treating the account as your own. If you are not a spouse, determine whether you fit one of the eligible designated beneficiary categories. For an owner who died in 2020 or later, check whether the general 10-year deadline applies and whether annual RMDs are also due.

Third, verify the required timing from the current IRS publication and the account custodian. Publication 590-B treats a Roth IRA owner as having died before the required beginning date for beneficiary distribution purposes. For an individual designated beneficiary who is not an EDB and an owner who died in 2020 or later, the account generally must be emptied by the end of the tenth year after death, but annual withdrawals before that tenth year are not required under that 10-year rule. An EDB may instead have life-expectancy payments or another permitted option; an estate or other non-designated beneficiary can face a different deadline. The original owner's lack of lifetime RMDs is not a blanket exemption for beneficiaries. Trust, multiple-beneficiary, and pre-2020 death rules need individual review.

If cash needs are part of the decision, keep withdrawal timing separate from the question of whether to liquidate an investment. Our guide to IRA early withdrawal rules concerns a different situation and should not be applied mechanically to beneficiary distributions. For help comparing advice options, see how to vet a financial planner. If you are also reviewing your own retirement accounts, our overview of Roth conversion mechanics explains a separate transaction.

Inherited IRA FAQs

Does a nonspouse beneficiary get to roll an inherited IRA into their own IRA?

Generally, no. The IRS says a nonspouse beneficiary cannot treat it as their own or roll it into or out of their own IRA. A trustee-to-trustee transfer to another inherited IRA for that beneficiary may be allowed.

Do I always have ten years to withdraw an inherited IRA?

Not necessarily. The general 10-year deadline described here applies to certain designated beneficiaries of owners who died in 2020 or later. Eligible designated beneficiaries and other circumstances can follow different rules, and annual RMDs may apply during the 10-year period.

Does an inherited Roth IRA have no required withdrawals?

Do not assume that. The original owner’s lifetime RMD status does not by itself establish the beneficiary’s schedule. Check current IRS Publication 590-B for inherited Roth IRA rules that fit your beneficiary category.

This is a federal-rules overview, not a beneficiary-specific withdrawal schedule. State tax and inheritance treatment were not verified for this article.