Inherited IRA Rules
Which rule applies to this inherited IRA, and by what year must it be empty? Every piece below can be linked to, so it opens in a window on your reader's screen, current as of the record. No form to fill in.
2026 law · Reviewed September 5, 2026 · The full page, with methodology and sources · the terms · All tools
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The beneficiary, the account type, the owner's birth year and year of death in; the rule, the deadline year, and whether annual distributions are required out. In a frame it carries no cookies, no tracking, and a visible link back to the methodology. Your site has to allow frames; most do. The link that opens it in a small window is on the professionals page.
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- In plain words.
- When you inherit an IRA or 401(k), the law says how fast you must take the money out. It depends on who you are to the person who died, whether the account is a Roth, and whether they had already reached the age for required withdrawals. Most non-spouse heirs have ten years to empty it; some must also take something out every year along the way. This tool sorts you into the right rule and gives the deadline year.
- Why it matters.
- Missing a required withdrawal costs a 25 percent penalty on the amount missed. The rules changed recently and were unsettled for years, so many people are unsure what they owe.
- An example.
- An adult child inherits a traditional IRA from a parent who was already taking required withdrawals. The account must be empty by the end of the tenth year after the death, and a withdrawal is required in each of the nine years in between.
- Where it stops.
- It gives the rule and the year, not the dollar amounts, which need a life-expectancy table and the balance. If a trust is the beneficiary, or the account is in a company plan with its own rules, the attorney or the plan decides.
The facts
Six quotable sentences from the 2024 final regulations.
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- 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)).
- 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)).
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
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| Beneficiary | Owner died before the required beginning date | Owner died on or after it |
|---|---|---|
| Surviving spouse | Treat as own, or delay until the owner would have reached the applicable age, then life expectancy | Treat as own, or life expectancy from the year after death |
| Minor child of the owner | Life expectancy until 21, then ten years | Life expectancy until 21, then ten years |
| Disabled or chronically ill; not more than 10 years younger | Life expectancy (or the ten-year rule, if the plan allows the election) | Life expectancy, or the owner's if longer |
| Any other person (an adult child, a grandchild) | Empty by the end of year 10; nothing required in between | Annual distributions in years 1 to 9, empty by the end of year 10 |
| Estate, charity, non-see-through trust | Empty by the end of year 5 | Owner's remaining life expectancy |
| Any beneficiary of a Roth IRA | As above, before the required beginning date | Never: a Roth owner is treated as dying before it |
Cite and link.
The clean address, a citation generated from the record so it can never carry a stale review date, and an address for every section so you can point a reader at the exact table or method.
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- Link
- https://consideratecapital.com/tools/inherited-ira-rules
- Citation
- Considerate Capital, "Inherited IRA Rules," reviewed September 5, 2026, https://consideratecapital.com/tools/inherited-ira-rules.
Link to a section
- The calculator https://consideratecapital.com/tools/inherited-ira-rules#calculator
- The facts https://consideratecapital.com/tools/inherited-ira-rules#facts
- Who gets which rule https://consideratecapital.com/tools/inherited-ira-rules#key-numbers
- How the rules sort https://consideratecapital.com/tools/inherited-ira-rules#how-it-works
- Methodology https://consideratecapital.com/tools/inherited-ira-rules#methodology
- Sources https://consideratecapital.com/tools/inherited-ira-rules#sources
- Revision history https://consideratecapital.com/tools/inherited-ira-rules#revision-history
Everything here reads from one reviewed record, so a copied piece carries its year and its review date. When the law moves, the embed updates by itself; a copied table or chart keeps the year in its caption. Corrections are welcome through the contact page.