If you inherit an IRA, how long you have to empty it and whether you need to take yearly withdrawals depend on who you are and when the owner died. A missed required distribution can cost you an excise tax.
This guide explains the types of beneficiaries, the 10-year and 5-year rules, what surviving spouses can do, year-of-death rules and Roth IRAs, using IRS Publication 590-B.
| Beneficiary | Main rule (Publication 590-B) |
|---|---|
| Surviving spouse (eligible designated beneficiary) | May elect to be treated as the owner, or remain a beneficiary and use life expectancy payments |
| Minor child of the owner, disabled or chronically ill individual, or someone not more than 10 years younger than the owner (eligible designated beneficiaries) | Life expectancy payments. If the owner died before the required beginning date they may instead elect the 10-year rule |
| Other individual beneficiary (designated beneficiary who is not an eligible one) | Must fully distribute the IRA by the 10th anniversary of the owner's death |
| Estate or other non-individual beneficiary | The 5-year rule applies if the owner died before the required beginning date (some trusts can be treated as designated beneficiaries; see Publication 590-B) |
The IRS says an eligible designated beneficiary is the owner's surviving spouse, the owner's minor child, a disabled individual, a chronically ill individual, or any other individual who is not more than 10 years younger than the IRA owner.
The 10-year rule requires beneficiaries who are not taking life expectancy payments to withdraw the entire balance by December 31 of the year containing the 10th anniversary of the owner's death. The IRS example: if the owner died in 2025 the beneficiary must fully distribute the IRA by December 31, 2035 (so a death in 2026 gives December 31, 2036, our extension of the example). If the owner died before the required beginning date and the 10-year rule applies, no distribution is required for any year before the 10th year. It applies to designated beneficiaries who are not eligible designated beneficiaries, and to eligible designated beneficiaries who elect it when the owner died before the required beginning date. For a beneficiary taking life expectancy payments who is an eligible designated beneficiary or a minor child, the 10-year rule applies to the remaining amount when that beneficiary dies or when the child reaches the age of majority. The election deadline is the earlier of December 31 of the year the first life-expectancy distribution is required or December 31 of the 10th anniversary. Check your IRA's plan documents with the custodian. If the owner had already reached the required beginning date, the beneficiaries have additional annual distribution duties that depend on the facts; see Publication 590-B.
If you are the surviving spouse who is the sole beneficiary, you may elect to be treated as the owner instead of the beneficiary. You are treated as having chosen to treat the IRA as your own if you make contributions (including rollover contributions) to the inherited IRA or do not take the required minimum distribution as a beneficiary, as long as you are the sole beneficiary with an unlimited right to withdraw. A surviving spouse can also roll a distribution to another traditional IRA to avoid including it in income for the year, as long as it is not a required distribution. See our RMD guide.
If the owner died before the required beginning date there is no required minimum distribution in the year of death. If the owner died on or after it, the beneficiaries are responsible for figuring and distributing the owner's required distribution for the year of death, figured as if the owner lived the entire year. If you are a beneficiary of an inherited traditional IRA and do not take a required distribution, you may have to pay an excise tax of 25% of the amount not distributed (10% if you correct it in time under the rules in Publication 590-B); see our Form 5329 guide. Distributions from a traditional IRA that you include in income are taxed as ordinary income. For a Roth IRA, the traditional IRA minimum distribution rules apply as though the owner died before their required beginning date, and the interest generally must be distributed by the end of the 5th or 10th calendar year after the year of death unless it is payable to an eligible designated beneficiary over life expectancy. If the beneficiary dies, their beneficiaries generally continue the required distributions on the original schedule.
| Case | Deadline or rule |
|---|---|
| Parent dies in 2025, adult child is sole beneficiary | 10-year rule: empty the IRA by December 31, 2035 (if the parent had already reached the required beginning date, yearly distributions may also be due before then; see Publication 590-B) |
| Owner dies in 2025, estate is the beneficiary and the owner died before the required beginning date | 5-year rule: distribute by December 31, 2030 |
| Spouse inherits and wants to keep growing it | May elect to be treated as the owner |
| Beneficiary is a sibling 5 years younger than the owner | Eligible designated beneficiary: life expectancy payments; the 10-year rule can be elected only if the owner died before the required beginning date |
These are our illustrations of the Publication 590-B rules. The facts that matter, such as the owner's age at death and the type of beneficiary, can change the result. Also see our inheriting money guide.
IRS: Publication 590-B, Distributions from Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs).
IRS: Retirement plans FAQs regarding required minimum distributions.