What are the rules for an inherited IRA RMD?

What are the rules for an inherited IRA RMD?

The rules for an inherited IRA RMD depend on two things: who you are to the person who died, and whether that person had already started their own required minimum distributions before they died. Since the SECURE Act, for owners who died in 2020 or later, most beneficiaries who are not the owner's spouse must empty the inherited IRA within 10 years of the death. A smaller group, called eligible designated beneficiaries, can instead stretch withdrawals over their own life expectancy. And since 2025, the IRS requires many beneficiaries under the 10-year rule to take an annual distribution in years one through nine, not simply empty the account by the end of year 10¹.

These inherited IRA distributions rules apply to traditional, SEP and SIMPLE IRAs. Inherited Roth IRAs follow a lighter version, covered below. The estate planning glossary defines terms like "required beginning date" and "designated beneficiary" used throughout this page.

Who counts as an eligible designated beneficiary

Four categories of beneficiary are exempt from the flat 10-year rule and may instead follow required minimum distribution rules for inherited IRA accounts based on their own life expectancy¹:

• A surviving spouse. Has the most options; see below.
• A minor child of the account owner. Can use life-expectancy withdrawals only until reaching the age of majority. The final regulations set that age at 21 for this purpose, regardless of the child's state of residence or school status, and the 10-year clock then starts⁷. This exception does not apply to grandchildren or other minors who are not the owner's own child.
• A disabled or chronically ill individual. Must meet the IRS definitions in place at the time of the owner's death.
• Someone not more than 10 years younger than the owner. Commonly a sibling or a domestic partner named directly on the account.

Anyone else named as beneficiary, an adult child, a grandchild, a friend, is a non-eligible designated beneficiary and falls under the 10-year rule. Checking your named beneficiaries now, using the beneficiary designations checklist, shows in advance which rule your own heirs will face.

The 10-year rule for inherited IRA distributions

If you are not an eligible designated beneficiary, the entire inherited IRA must be distributed by December 31 of the 10th year after the owner's death. Whether you also owe an inherited IRA minimum distribution every year inside that window depends on when the owner died.

If the owner died on or after their required beginning date

You must take an annual RMD in years one through nine, calculated from your own single life expectancy, in addition to emptying the account by the end of year 10. This was the central question left open after the SECURE Act, and the IRS's final regulations, effective for distribution years beginning in 2025, confirmed the annual-RMD requirement applies⁷. The IRS had waived the excise tax for missed 2021 through 2024 RMDs while the rule was unsettled; that relief does not extend to 2025 or later years¹.

If the owner died before their required beginning date

You do not owe an annual RMD in years one through nine. You can withdraw on any schedule you like, including waiting until year 10, as long as the account reaches zero by December 31 of the 10th year¹.

Which situation applies to you

Sources for this table: IRS, Retirement topics - Beneficiary; IRS, Publication 590-B; Federal Register, Required Minimum Distributions final rule, TD 10001, all checked 2026-09-19.

If there is no designated beneficiary

If an IRA owner never named a living person as beneficiary, or named their estate, the account passes to a no designated beneficiary category. If the owner died before their required beginning date, the five-year rule applies: the entire balance must come out by December 31 of the year containing the fifth anniversary of death⁵. If the owner died on or after that date, distributions instead follow the owner's own remaining life expectancy, counted down by one each year⁵. Naming an actual person as beneficiary avoids this less flexible path.

Rules for a surviving spouse

A surviving spouse who is the sole beneficiary has more choices than any other beneficiary¹:

1. Treat the IRA as your own. Roll it into your own IRA. Your own RMDs then follow the ordinary lifetime rules and do not start until you reach the applicable age.
2. Remain a beneficiary of the inherited IRA. Take distributions using your own single life expectancy, recalculated each year, which can allow smaller withdrawals early on.
3. Follow the 10-year rule. Available if the owner died before their required beginning date; the spouse can choose this instead of life-expectancy withdrawals.

Rules for inherited Roth IRA RMDs

An inherited Roth IRA follows the same 10-year deadline as a traditional IRA for non-eligible designated beneficiaries, but without the annual-RMD requirement in years one through nine. That is because a Roth IRA owner is never required to take RMDs during their own lifetime, so every Roth owner is treated as having died before their required beginning date¹. A Roth beneficiary under the 10-year rule can let the account grow tax-free and take the entire balance in year 10, or spread withdrawals however they choose, as long as the account is empty by the deadline. Qualified withdrawals of earnings are generally tax-free; withdrawals of the original owner's contributions are always tax-free¹.

How to calculate your inherited IRA RMD

1. Confirm the account type (traditional, SEP, SIMPLE or Roth) and your beneficiary category: spouse, other eligible designated beneficiary, non-eligible designated beneficiary, or no designated beneficiary.
2. Find the owner's required beginning date: April 1 of the year after they would have turned 73 (2023 through 2032) or 75 (2033 or later)⁵. Check whether death came before or on/after that date.
3. If you owe an annual RMD, look up your age in the Single Life Expectancy Table, Table I⁵, then divide the December 31 prior-year balance by that factor. In later years, reduce the same factor by one each year rather than looking up a new one, unless you are a spouse recalculating annually.
4. Withdraw at least that amount by December 31, in one payment or several.
5. Whether or not an annual amount is required, track the running total so the full balance reaches zero by the 10-year (or 5-year) deadline, and keep each year's calculation with your records.

Common mistakes

• Assuming the 10-year rule means waiting until year 10: if the owner had started their own RMDs, skipping years one through nine triggers the excise tax on each missed amount¹.
• Confusing the 10-year rule with the older 5-year rule, which now applies only when there is no individual designated beneficiary⁵.
• A spouse rolling the account over too early, before checking whether beneficiary-status withdrawals would have been smaller in the short run.
• Forgetting that Roth and traditional inherited IRAs have different annual-RMD requirements despite sharing the same 10-year deadline¹.
• Missing that a minor child's 10-year clock starts at age 21, not at whatever age counts as an adult under state law⁷.
• Not filing Form 5329 for a missed distribution, which is required even when requesting the penalty be reduced or waived².

What to record in a family guide

• The custodian, account number and type (traditional, SEP, SIMPLE or Roth) for every IRA
• The original owner's date of birth and required beginning date, if death has not yet occurred
• Named beneficiaries and contingent beneficiaries, and whether each is a spouse, a minor child, disabled, chronically ill, or none of these
• Whether the owner had already started RMDs, and the most recent RMD amount taken
• Where beneficiary distribution paperwork and prior-year Form 5329 filings are kept

This is the kind of detail a family guide keeps in one place, so an adult child or spouse is not reconstructing account history from old statements under time pressure.

When to get professional help

Get a CPA involved when you are unsure whether you owe an annual RMD, when a spouse is deciding between rolling the account over and staying a beneficiary, when the account must be split among multiple beneficiaries, when a trust is the named beneficiary, or when you have already missed a distribution and need to file Form 5329. A probate or estate attorney can help if the beneficiary designation is unclear or the account defaults to the estate; the executor checklist covers the wider settlement process an inherited IRA is often just one piece of.