I am a Trust, Estate, or Entity Beneficiary of the original IRA owner

Beneficiaries of an entity, charity, or non-qualifying (non-see through) trust have the following withdrawal options:

Non-qualifying Trust, Estate, or Entity Beneficiary	Pre-Required Beginning Date²	Post Required Beginning Date³
Transfer to an Inherited IRA in the name of the trust, estate or entity and withdraw the entire balance by December 31st of the fifth-year anniversary of the original owner’s death. (5-year rule)¹
Transfer to an Inherited IRA in the name of the trust, estate, or entity and take required minimum distributions using the longer of the original owners life expectancy or the beneficiary's life expectancy.¹
Disclaim the assets, which generally must occur within 9 months of the IRA owner or plan participant’s death. Disclaiming is only an option if the trust, estate or entity beneficiary does not take ownership of the inherited assets.

Trust, Estate & Entity beneficiaries of Roth IRAs must elect to withdraw under the pre-required beginning date rules for inherited Roth assets.
Pre-Required Beginning Date: The original owner passes away prior to April 1 of the year following the year they reached age 73 (72 prior to January 1, 2023)
Post Required Beginning Date: The original owner passed away on or after April 1 of the year following the year they reached age 73 (72 prior to January 1, 2023)

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I am a spouse beneficiary of the original IRA or Roth IRA owner.

If you inherited an IRA from your spouse, you have the choice of either moving the money into your own IRA or into an inherited IRA. The RMD rules are different for each choice and there's a limited amount of time you have to make your decision if you want to have all of the below options available to you, so consider your options carefully.¹

Spouse Beneficiary	Pre-Required Beginning Date	Post Required Beginning Date
Move your late spouse's IRA to your IRA and take RMDs as if you were the original owner
Transfer your late spouse's IRA to an Inherited IRA in your name and delay RMDs until your late spouse would have reached age 72
Move your late spouse's IRA to an inherited IRA in your name and begin RMD withdrawals the year following the year of death based on your life expectancy each year.
Move your late spouse's IRA to an inherited IRA in your name and begin RMD withdrawals the year following the year of death over the longer of your life expectancy or your spouses remaining life expectancy
Move your late spouse's IRA to an inherited IRA in your name and withdraw the balance by December 31st of the year containing the 10th anniversary of their death
Disclaiming the assets generally must occur within 9 months of the IRA owner's death. Once the beneficiary takes ownership of the inherited assets, disclaiming the assets is no longer possible.

You will need to make this decision no later than the end of the year following the year of the original depositor's death. If you do not make a timely election and you were one of several primary beneficiaries on the account, you distributions options may be limited. You should contact a tax advisor to learn more.

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I am a see-through trust beneficiary of the original IRA owner

If a trust is named as beneficiary and it meets requirements to be a See-Through Trust^₁, the trustee(s) may choose from the following withdrawal options:

See-through trust beneficiary	Pre-Required Beginning Date³	Post Required Beginning Date⁴
Transfer to an Inherited IRA in the name of the trust and withdraw the entire balance by December 31st of the fifth-year anniversary of the original owner’s death. (5-year rule)⁶
Transfer to an Inherited IRA in the name of the trust and take required minimum distributions based on the oldest beneficiary’s life expectancy, beginning in the year following the year of the original owner’s death, reduced by 1.⁶
Transfer to an Inherited IRA in the name of the trust and take withdrawals based on the longer of the oldest trust beneficiary’s life expectancy beginning in the year following the year of death reduced by 1, or the original owner’s life expectancy in the year of death reduced by 1. ^{2, 5, 6}
Disclaim the assets, which generally must occur within 9 months of the IRA owner or plan participant’s death. Disclaiming is only an option if the trust beneficiary does not take ownership of the inherited assets.

A See-Through Trust is a trust meets the following IRS requirements: 1. The trust must be valid under state law. 2. The trust must be irrevocable or become irrevocable upon the death of the account owner. 3. All the trust’s underlying beneficiaries must be identifiable as being eligible to be designated beneficiaries themselves. 4. A Copy of the trust must be provided to the custodian by October 31, the year following the original owner’s death.

Post-SECURE Act, there is some uncertainty as to whether the "see-through" rules will apply because they were not specifically addressed in the SECURE Act legislation. If they do, the IRA assets must be withdrawn within a 10-year period, except under limited circumstances7. If the see-through rules do not apply, the IRA assets will need to be withdrawn within a 5-year period.
See-through trust beneficiaries of Roth IRAs may elect to withdraw under the pre-required beginning date rules for inherited Roth assets.
Pre-Required Beginning Date: The original owner passes away prior to April 1 of the year following the year they reached age 73 (72 prior to January 1, 2023)
Post Required Beginning Date: The original owner passed away on or after April 1 of the year following the year they reached age 73 (72 prior to January 1, 2023)
Roth IRAs do not require original owners to take Required Minimum Distributions. See-Through Trust beneficiaries may elect to withdraw under the pre-required beginning date rules for inherited Roth assets.
These options may not apply for an applicable multi-beneficiary trust that provides trust benefits to a chronically ill or disabled individual. Please consult a tax advisor for those specific rules.

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I am an eligible designated or non-eligible designated beneficiary of the original IRA owner¹

If you inherit an IRA from an individual and transfer those assets into an inherited IRA or inherited Roth IRA, your distribution requirements will be based on certain factors. The date of the original account owner's death, their age when they passed, your age, relationship to the original account owner, and when you received assets into your inherited IRA will all factor into your withdrawal options.

Non-spouse Beneficiary	Pre-Required Beginning Date⁴	Post Required Beginning Date⁵
Transfer to an Inherited IRA and withdraw the entire account balance by December 31st of the tenth-year anniversary of the original owner’s death. (10-year rule)
Transfer to an Inherited IRA and take required minimum distributions based on the beneficiary’s life expectancy, if the beneficiary is an eligible designated beneficiary, beginning in the year following the year of the original owner’s death, reduced by 1. ^{2, 3}
Transfer to an Inherited IRA and take required minimum distributions based on the longer of the decedent's life expectancy or the beneficiary's life expectancy. ^{2, 3}
Disclaim the assets, which generally must occur within 9 months of the IRA owner or plan participant’s death. Disclaiming is only an option if the beneficiary does not take ownership of the inherited assets.

Eligible designated beneficiaries (EDBs) are the spouse or the minor child of the original depositor, a disabled or chronically ill person or an individual that is not more than 10 years younger than the original depositor. A non-eligible designated beneficiary is anyone else.
Multiple beneficiaries may require the calculation, in some cases, to be based on the oldest beneficiary’s options for distribution unless an inherited IRA is established by December 31st of the year following the original IRA owner’s death (or by that day all other beneficiaries had either taken their share from the IRA or had disclaimed their interest in the IRA)
Roth IRAs do not require original owners to take Required Minimum Distributions. As such, original depositor Roth IRA owners always pass away pre-required beginning date. A non-spouse beneficiary would take required minimum distributions under the 10-year rule or based on single life expectancy for eligible designated beneficiaries.
Pre-Required Beginning Date: When the original owner passes away prior to April 1 of the year following the year they reached age 73 (72 prior to January 1, 2023)
Post Required Beginning Date: When the original owner passed away on or after April 1 of the year following the year they reached age 73 (72 prior to January 1, 2023)
Eligible Designated Beneficiary - Spouse, minor child of the account owner, individual who is not more than 10 years younger, chronically ill or disabled.

Withdrawing from an inherited IRA

Do RMDs apply to inherited IRAs?

Which situation below applies to you?

I am a spouse beneficiary of the original IRA owner.

I am an eligible designated or non-eligible designated beneficiary of the original IRA owner.

I am a see-through trust beneficiary of the original IRA owner and qualify as a see-through trust.