Beneficiaries and inherited IRAs

Retirement accounts, life insurance, annuities, and transfer-on-death registrations pass by the beneficiary form on file. An outdated form can send assets to a former spouse, skip a child, or leave the estate as beneficiary, which may narrow options. Review every account after major life events and after the sale.

For many non-spouse beneficiaries who inherit after recent law changes, an inherited IRA must generally be fully distributed by the end of the tenth year after the year of death. That is not the whole picture.

Certain eligible designated beneficiaries, including a surviving spouse, a minor child of the account owner (until a specified age), a disabled or chronically ill individual, and someone not more than ten years younger than the owner, may have other options such as stretching distributions over life expectancy.

In addition, if the original owner died on or after their required beginning date, many beneficiaries of traditional IRAs subject to the 10-year rule must also take annual distributions during those ten years. Actual voluntary withdrawals before that date do not by themselves trigger this rule. Inherited Roth IRAs follow different lifetime-distribution treatment, though many beneficiaries still face the 10-year payout deadline. The death year, beneficiary category and account type matter, so check current Publication 590-B and IRS notices.

A surviving spouse may be able to treat an inherited IRA as their own, roll it over, or remain a beneficiary. Each choice affects when distributions must start and whether early withdrawal penalties could apply.

Naming a trust can add control, which some families want for minors or for heirs who need structure. Trust drafting interacts with the distribution rules in technical ways, and trust income tax brackets can be compressed. This calls for an attorney experienced in retirement account trusts.