Guide
What are the inherited IRA rules for beneficiaries?
By Secure Retirement PlannerUpdated
If you inherited an IRA from anyone but your spouse, you generally must empty it by December 31 of the 10th year after they died. This applies if the owner died after 2019.
If the owner had already started required minimum distributions (RMDs), you must also take some out every year. That yearly rule covers years 1 to 9, starting with 2025.
If you are the surviving spouse, you can instead treat the IRA as your own. A few other heirs can stretch withdrawals over their life expectancy. These include a minor child or someone not more than 10 years younger than the owner.
This page is for you if you inherited. If you own the IRA and worry about the tax your children will pay, see Roth conversions for heirs.
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The short version
- Most adult children and other non-spouse heirs have until the end of year 10 to empty the account.
- If the owner had reached their RMD start date, you also need a minimum withdrawal each year.
- Withdrawals from an inherited traditional IRA are taxed as income, but never get the 10% penalty.
- A non-spouse heir can't convert an inherited IRA to a Roth. A spouse who makes it their own can.
- An inherited Roth IRA also has a 10-year deadline, but no yearly withdrawals and usually no tax.
Which inherited IRA rules apply to me?
Your rules depend on who you are to the owner. The IRS sorts heirs into groups. If you are an eligible designated beneficiary, you can still stretch withdrawals over your own life expectancy. If you are any other person, you get the 10-year rule. Find your row below.
| You are | Your group | What you must do |
|---|---|---|
| The surviving spouse | Eligible designated beneficiary | Treat it as your own, or stay a beneficiary and use life expectancy or the 10-year rule |
| The owner's minor child | Eligible designated beneficiary | Life expectancy withdrawals until 21, then empty within 10 years |
| Disabled or chronically ill | Eligible designated beneficiary | Life expectancy withdrawals allowed |
| Not more than 10 years younger than the owner (a sibling, for example) | Eligible designated beneficiary | Life expectancy withdrawals allowed |
| Adult child, grandchild, friend, other relative | Designated beneficiary | Empty by end of year 10; yearly RMDs if the owner had started RMDs |
| Estate or most charities | Not a designated beneficiary | 5-year rule if the owner died before RMDs started; otherwise the owner's remaining life expectancy |
How does the inherited IRA 10-year rule work?
You must take out your whole balance by December 31 of the year that holds the 10th anniversary of the owner's death. The year of death doesn't count as year 1.
Any money you leave in after that date is treated as a missed RMD. You owe an excise tax of 25% of the amount not taken. It drops to 10% if you fix it within the IRS correction window.
| Owner died in | Year 1 | Account must be empty by |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 2022 | December 31, 2031 |
| 2023 | 2024 | December 31, 2033 |
| 2025 | 2026 | December 31, 2035 |
| 2026 | 2027 | December 31, 2036 |
Do I have to take RMDs every year from an inherited IRA?
Yes, if the owner died on or after their required beginning date. That's generally April 1 of the year after they turned 73. IRS final rules published July 19, 2024 say you must take yearly withdrawals in years 1 to 9, and the rest in year 10. If the owner died before that date, you have no yearly minimum, only the year-10 deadline.
The IRS waived penalties for missed yearly withdrawals in 2021 through 2024. Starting with 2025, you must take them.
Your first minimum uses your age in the year after the death and the IRS Single Life Table. If you are 57, you use 29.8. Each year after that, you subtract 1. Divide your prior December 31 balance by that number. Our RMD calculator can help with the owner's side of the math.
Don't miss the year-of-death RMD
Say the owner died after starting RMDs and hadn't taken that year's full amount. Then you as the beneficiary must take the rest by December 31 of the year of death.
What are my options if I inherited my spouse's IRA?
We are sorry for your loss. If you are the sole beneficiary, you can treat the IRA as your own, roll it into your own IRA, or stay a beneficiary. Each choice changes when you must take money out.
- Treat it as your own: your RMDs follow your own age and the Uniform Lifetime Table. This usually suits you if you are already 59½ or older.
- Stay a beneficiary: your withdrawals are never hit by the 10% penalty, even before 59½. If your spouse died before RMDs started, you can wait until the year they would have reached their RMD age.
- Switch later: many spouses stay a beneficiary until 59½, then treat the IRA as their own.
- If you stay a beneficiary, you must take each year's RMD. If you skip it, the IRS can treat the IRA as yours.
Can I convert an inherited IRA to a Roth IRA?
Not if you're a non-spouse beneficiary. The tax code bars rollovers into or out of an inherited IRA, and a conversion is a type of rollover. You can only move it by trustee-to-trustee transfer. It goes to another inherited IRA in the owner's name for your benefit.
If you are the spouse, you can. Once you treat the IRA as your own, it's your IRA. You can convert any amount after you take your own RMD for the year.
There is one exception if you are a non-spouse heir. If you inherit a 401(k), 403(b) or governmental 457(b), the plan can roll it directly into an inherited Roth IRA. That counts as a conversion, so the full taxable amount is your income that year.
What are the rules for an inherited Roth IRA?
If you are a non-spouse heir, the 10-year deadline still usually applies to you. But the IRS treats a Roth owner as dying before their RMD start date, so you have no yearly minimum. You can leave the whole account growing until the end of year 10.
Your withdrawals are tax-free if the owner's first Roth IRA had been funded at least five tax years before. If not, contributions and converted money still come out tax-free to you. Only earnings you take before the clock ends are taxed. You pay no 10% penalty either way. See Roth IRA withdrawal rules for the order money comes out.
Example: a 57-year-old inheriting $400,000 from his mother
Mark's mother died in 2025 at 82, after she had started her RMDs. Mark is 57 in 2026 and the sole beneficiary of her $400,000 traditional IRA. He is married. He and his wife have about $150,000 of taxable income a year from work, so they're in the 22% bracket.
His first RMD, due by December 31, 2026, is about $13,423 ($400,000 divided by 29.8). He must empty the account by December 31, 2035.
If he takes only the minimum each year, the account keeps growing. Then he faces a year-10 withdrawal of about $433,123. That one year adds about $119,207 in federal tax and reaches the 35% bracket. Say he spreads it out instead, taking one-tenth in 2026, one-ninth in 2027 and so on. Then his top rate stays around 22%.
If you inherited a large IRA while you are still working, spread your withdrawals across the years. That can keep one big year from pushing you into a much higher bracket.
| Plan | Total withdrawn over 10 years | Added federal tax | Average rate on the withdrawals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimums, then the rest in 2035 | about $581,130 | about $151,769 | 26.1% |
| Spread evenly over 10 years | about $503,116 | about $110,699 | 22.0% |
| All of it in 2026 | $400,000 | about $107,614 | 26.9% |
Hypothetical example. Assumes 5% yearly growth, $150,000 of other joint taxable income each year, 2026 federal brackets (IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32) held flat for all ten years, and the IRS Single Life Table divisor of 29.8 at 57, reduced by 1 each year. It ignores state tax and changes to brackets. Your numbers will differ.
Common questions
Do I pay a 10% penalty on inherited IRA withdrawals if I'm under 59½?
No. Distributions to a beneficiary after the owner's death are an exception to the 10% penalty at any age. Regular income tax still applies to traditional IRA money.
My father died in 2022. Do I need yearly RMDs now?
If he had started RMDs, yes, from 2025 on. Penalties for missed yearly amounts in 2021 to 2024 were waived. You still must empty the account by December 31, 2032.
Can I roll an inherited IRA into my own IRA?
Only a surviving spouse can. Anyone else must keep it as a separate inherited IRA in the owner's name for their benefit.
Can I take more than the RMD from an inherited IRA?
Yes. The RMD is only a minimum. Taking extra in lower-income years can keep the year-10 withdrawal from pushing you into a higher bracket.
Is an inherited Roth IRA taxable?
Usually not. Withdrawals are tax-free once the owner's first Roth IRA had been funded five tax years earlier, and contributions and conversions are tax-free either way.
Who counts as an eligible designated beneficiary?
The surviving spouse, the owner's minor child, a disabled or chronically ill person, and anyone not more than 10 years younger than the owner.
Can I make a charitable gift from an inherited IRA?
If you are 70½ or older, a qualified charitable distribution can come from an inherited IRA too. See our QCD guide at QCD rules and Roth conversions.
Sources
Facts on this page were last checked on November 9, 2026.
- IRS Publication 590-B (2025), Distributions from IRAs · Spouse options, eligible designated beneficiaries, 10-year and 5-year rules, Single Life Table (29.8 at 57), inherited Roth rules, 25% and 10% excise tax, no 10% penalty for beneficiaries. Read Nov 9, 2026.
- Federal Register: Required Minimum Distributions final regulations (T.D. 10001), July 19, 2024 · Keeps yearly RMDs in years 1 to 9 when the owner died on or after the required beginning date; applies from 2025. Read Nov 9, 2026.
- IRS Notice 2024-35 · Penalty relief for missed 10-year-rule RMDs in 2021 to 2024. Read Nov 9, 2026.
- 26 U.S. Code 408(d)(3)(C), Denial of rollover treatment for inherited accounts · Non-spouse heirs can't roll over (or convert) an inherited IRA. Read Nov 9, 2026.
- IRS Publication 590-A (2025), Contributions to IRAs · Non-spouse beneficiary direct rollover from an employer plan to an inherited Roth IRA. Read Nov 9, 2026.
- IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32 (2026 inflation adjustments) · 2026 brackets used in the example. Read Nov 9, 2026.
Who wrote this
This guide was written and fact-checked by the Secure Retirement Planner editorial team using IRS, CMS and Social Security sources listed above. We update guides when the law or yearly limits change. How we research.