Inherited IRA Rules: the facts

1. Since the SECURE Act, most beneficiaries who are not the spouse must empty an inherited IRA by the end of the 10th year after the owner's death. The exceptions, called eligible designated beneficiaries, are the spouse, the owner's minor child, a disabled or chronically ill person, and anyone not more than ten years younger than the owner (§ 401(a)(9)(E)).
2. Whether anything is due in years one through nine depends on the owner: if the owner had reached the required beginning date (April 1 after the year of turning 73, or 75 for those born in 1960 or later), annual distributions on the beneficiary's life expectancy continue through year nine, and the rest by the end of year ten (26 CFR 1.401(a)(9)-5(d) and (e)(2)).
3. If the owner died before that date, nothing is required year to year under the ten-year rule; the whole balance is simply due by the end of the tenth year (1.401(a)(9)-3(c)(3)). A Roth IRA owner is always treated as dying before it.
4. Because the rule was unsettled, the annual distributions for 2021 through 2024 were waived by IRS notice; the final regulations apply from 2025, and the waived years need not be made up.
5. An eligible designated beneficiary takes annual distributions on their own life expectancy for life; a minor child does so until 21, then has ten more years. Whatever an eligible designated beneficiary leaves at their own death is due within ten years after it.
6. An estate, a charity, or a trust that does not look through to people gets 5 years if the owner died before the required beginning date, and the owner's own remaining life expectancy if after; a surviving spouse alone may treat the account as their own.

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