When you inherit an IRA, the withdrawal rules depend on who you are, when the owner died, whether it is a traditional or Roth IRA, and whether the owner had reached the required beginning date for distributions. For many adult children inheriting from a parent who died after 2019, the account has to be emptied by the end of the tenth year after death. But that does not always mean you can leave the money alone until the final year.
When the Ten-Year Clock Actually Runs Out
The deadline is generally December 31 of the year containing the tenth anniversary of the owner’s death. If your mother dies in 2026 and you are subject to the ten-year rule, the account generally must be fully distributed by December 31, 2036. The clock is tied to her death, not to the date you finish the paperwork or move the account to another custodian. Delaying the administrative steps does not buy you a new ten-year period.
Do You Also Have to Take Something Every Year?
This is the part that catches people out. For a beneficiary subject to the ten-year rule, if the owner died on or after the required beginning date, annual beneficiary distributions are generally required in years one through nine, with full distribution by the deadline. If the owner died before that date, annual distributions generally are not required before year ten. The IRS settled this in the final required minimum distribution regulations. The required beginning date has a technical meaning, do not substitute an assumption based on whether the owner had ever taken a withdrawal.
An Example of How Those Two Rules Interact
An adult daughter inheriting from a parent who died after the required beginning date may need to take a withdrawal in the year following the death, even though she has years left before the account must be emptied. And taking that annual minimum does not automatically put her on a path that empties the account by year ten. The annual obligation and the final deadline have to be tracked together, alongside a separate check on any distribution the owner still owed for their year of death.
Some Beneficiaries Have Different Options
A surviving spouse may be able to treat the IRA as their own or keep it as an inherited account, depending on the circumstances. Other eligible designated beneficiaries include certain disabled or chronically ill individuals, the owner’s minor child, and anyone not more than ten years younger than the owner. Each category has specific requirements, and the minor-child treatment does not apply to every young relative.
Do Not Move the Money Before You Understand the Rules
A non-spouse beneficiary generally cannot combine an inherited IRA with their own or use an ordinary 60-day rollover to undo a distribution. The IRS is explicit: you cannot roll over any amounts into or out of an inherited IRA, but you can make a trustee-to-trustee transfer, provided the receiving account is set up and maintained in the name of the deceased owner for your benefit as beneficiary. Confirm the process with the custodian before requesting a check. A transaction meant to tidy up your accounts can be very hard to reverse.
Tax Treatment Is a Separate Question
Traditional IRA withdrawals are generally taxable to the extent they represent previously untaxed money. Inherited Roth IRA distributions are often tax-free, subject to the applicable requirements, but a Roth account can still be subject to the ten-year deadline. A trust or an estate named as beneficiary brings in further rules. The fact that money arrives as an inheritance does not by itself settle how it is taxed.
How We Work This With Your Other Advisors
We coordinate the legal beneficiary arrangement, the withdrawal requirements and the tax consequences of proposed distributions with your financial advisor and tax preparer. Your advisor handles the investment side; the tax analysis helps work out when withdrawals make sense beyond the required minimums. Bring the beneficiary information, the account records and the owner’s date of death into that conversation early, so there is a plan before the first deadline arrives rather than after it.
If you have inherited an IRA and nobody has told you which clock you are on, that is worth half an hour.
Book a free 15-minute consult call with our Lead Intake Coordinator, Nicole Ott, or give us a call at 978-657-7437. There is no charge and no pressure, the goal is simply to work out what your family actually needs to do next.
You can also download our free report, What To Do When A Loved One Passes Away.
