Ten years, five years, or a lifetime. Which one is yours?

The facts, in one place.

Six quotable sentences from the 2024 final regulations.

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.

Who gets which rule.

The whole decision in one table.

How the rules sort.

Three questions settle it. Who is the beneficiary: the spouse, one of the four other eligible designated beneficiaries, any other person, or something that is not a person. Had the owner reached the required beginning date, April 1 of the year after turning 73 (75 for those born in 1960 or later); a Roth owner never has. And what year did the owner die, which sets every deadline.

For most non-spouse heirs the answer is the ten-year rule: empty by December 31 of the tenth year after death. What the final regulations settled is what happens in between. If the owner had reached the required beginning date, annual distributions on the heir's life expectancy continue through year nine; if not, nothing is required until the end. The years the question was open were waived by notice and do not have to be made up.

Methodology.

1. Inputs. The beneficiary category, the account type, the owner's year of birth and year of death, and, for a minor child, the child's age at death.
2. The required beginning date. The applicable age from the RMD record (72 for those born 0 to 1950; 73 for those born 1951 to 1959; 75 for those born 1960 to 9999), reached in birth year plus age; the date is April 1 of the following year. A death in that following year is flagged, because the date itself decides. A Roth owner is always before it.
3. The rule. Sorted by the table above: spouse (the election), minor child (life expectancy to 21, then ten years), the other eligible designated beneficiaries (life expectancy, or the ten-year election before the required beginning date), any other person (ten-year, with annual distributions only after the required beginning date), and non-persons (five-year before, the owner's remaining life expectancy after).
4. Deadlines. The year of death plus five or ten (26 CFR 1.401(a)(9)-3(c)(2) and (c)(3); 1.401(a)(9)-5(e)(2)); for a minor child, the year of reaching 21 plus ten (1.401(a)(9)-5(e)(4)). Annual distributions, where required, begin the year after death.
5. Waived years. Annual distributions under the ten-year rule for 2021 through 2024 were waived by notice; the tool lists the ones that fall in the ten-year span and states they are not made up.
6. Validation. Pinned cases for an adult child after and before the required beginning date, a Roth, an estate both ways, a minor child, and the April 1 edge in both directions. A transcription error fails the build.
7. Not modeled. The dollar amounts (the single life table and the balance), see-through and conduit trusts, multiple beneficiaries and separate accounts, successor beneficiaries, a spouse's election to be treated as the employee under SECURE 2.0, plan documents stricter than the regulations, and the excise tax computation. Educational, not advice.

Sources.

1. 1. Code of Federal Regulations (Cornell LII), 26 CFR § 1.401(a)(9)-3 — Death before required beginning date. The 5-year rule when there is no designated beneficiary (c)(2); the 10-year rule for a designated beneficiary who is not an eligible designated beneficiary, with no annual distributions required (c)(3); the life expectancy rule for eligible designated beneficiaries, beginning by the end of the year after death (c)(4); the plan-permitted election between the two (c)(5). Retrieved September 5, 2026; verified September 5, 2026.
2. 2. Code of Federal Regulations (Cornell LII), 26 CFR § 1.401(a)(9)-5 — Required minimum distributions from defined contribution plans; death on or after the required beginning date. That after the required beginning date annual distributions continue on the beneficiary's (or the employee's, if longer) life expectancy (d)(1); that a designated beneficiary who is not an eligible designated beneficiary must also empty the account by the end of the year of the tenth anniversary of death (e)(2); that an eligible designated beneficiary's remainder is due ten years after their own death (e)(3), or ten years after a minor child reaches 21 (e)(4); and that with no designated beneficiary the employee's remaining life expectancy governs (d)(1)(iii). Retrieved September 5, 2026; verified September 5, 2026.
3. 3. United States Code (Cornell LII), 26 U.S.C. § 401(a)(9)(E) and (H) — Eligible designated beneficiaries; the 10-year rule. The five categories of eligible designated beneficiary: the surviving spouse, a minor child of the employee, a disabled individual, a chronically ill individual, and an individual not more than ten years younger than the employee; and the rule that a minor child's exception ends at majority. Retrieved September 5, 2026; verified September 5, 2026.
4. 4. Internal Revenue Service, Notice 2024-35 — Certain required minimum distributions for 2024. That the excise tax is not asserted for missed annual distributions under the 10-year rule for 2024 (extending the 2021 through 2023 relief of Notices 2022-53 and 2023-54), and that the final regulations apply for distribution calendar years beginning on or after January 1, 2025. Retrieved September 5, 2026; verified September 5, 2026.
5. 5. United States Code (Cornell LII), 26 U.S.C. § 408A(c)(5) — Roth IRAs: no lifetime required distributions. That the lifetime distribution rules do not apply to a Roth IRA owner, so a Roth IRA owner is always treated as having died before the required beginning date and no annual distributions are required of a beneficiary under the 10-year rule. Retrieved September 5, 2026; verified September 5, 2026.
6. 6. United States Code (Cornell LII), 26 U.S.C. § 401(a)(9)(C) — Required beginning date; applicable age. The applicable age: 73 for those who attain 72 after 2022 and 73 before 2033; 75 for those who attain 74 after 2032 (SECURE 2.0 § 107). Retrieved September 4, 2026; verified September 4, 2026.

Revision history.

The record's history.

September 5, 2026

First release: the beneficiary categories, the 5-year, 10-year, and life expectancy rules with their deadlines, the annual-distribution requirement after the required beginning date, the waived years, and the Roth treatment, from the 2024 final regulations.

Canonical address: https://consideratecapital.com/tools/inherited-ira-rules