Short answer. If the owner died after 2019 and you are a designated beneficiary who isn't an "eligible designated beneficiary," the whole account must be distributed by December 31 of the year that contains the 10th anniversary of the death. If the owner died before their required beginning date (generally April 1 of the year after reaching 73), nothing is required before the 10th year. If the owner died on or after that date, you also take a yearly minimum in the years in between, under final regulations that apply from 2025.
The steps at a glance
- Gather the facts about the owner and the account.
- Find your beneficiary group.
- Set up the inherited account correctly.
- Deal with the year of death.
- Mark the deadline year.
- Decide whether yearly minimums apply.
- Plan the withdrawals.
Step 1: gather the facts
- The owner's date of birth and date of death.
- Whether the account is a traditional IRA or a Roth IRA.
- Whether the owner had reached the required beginning date and was already taking required minimum distributions (RMDs), and whether the RMD for the year of death was taken.
- The beneficiary designation form and your relationship to the owner.
- The account balance on December 31 of each year.
Step 2: find your beneficiary group
Publication 590-B lists five kinds of eligible designated beneficiaries, who can use other options: the owner's surviving spouse, the owner's minor child, a disabled individual, a chronically ill individual, and any other individual not more than 10 years younger than the owner. A minor child's 10-year period starts on reaching the age of majority.
Most adult children, grandchildren, siblings more than 10 years younger and friends are designated beneficiaries under the 10-year rule. An estate, a charity and some trusts are not designated beneficiaries and follow different rules; Publication 590-B covers them.
Step 3: set up the account correctly
A beneficiary who isn't the spouse can't treat the inherited IRA as their own and can't roll money into or out of it. A trustee-to-trustee transfer is allowed if the new IRA is set up and maintained in the name of the deceased owner for your benefit. A surviving spouse has more choices, including treating the IRA as their own.
Step 4: deal with the year of death
If the owner died on or after the required beginning date and hadn't taken that year's RMD, the beneficiaries are responsible for figuring and taking it, as if the owner had lived all year.
Step 5: mark the deadline year
Add 10 to the year of death. That year's December 31 is the date the account must be empty. Publication 590-B's example: an owner who died in 2025 means a deadline of December 31, 2035.
Step 6: decide whether yearly minimums apply
Owner died before the required beginning date: no distribution is required before the 10th year. You can still withdraw in any year.
Owner died on or after it: the final regulations keep annual distributions going. For each year after the death, the minimum is based on the longer of your single life expectancy (Table I in Publication 590-B) or the owner's remaining life expectancy, and the account must still be empty by the deadline. For owners who died in 2020 through 2023, IRS notices said no excise tax would be asserted for these "specified RMDs" missed in 2021 through 2024; the final regulations apply to RMDs for 2025 and later.
Step 7: plan the withdrawals
Withdrawals from an inherited traditional IRA are generally taxable income in the year you take them. Many beneficiaries look at how the withdrawals fall across the ten years together with their other income. That is a planning decision for you and your tax professional; the rule only sets the minimums and the deadline.
A daughter inherits her father's IRA
A father died in May 2025 at age 79, after his required beginning date. He had already taken his 2025 RMD. His daughter, 56 in 2025, is the sole beneficiary. She is more than 10 years younger than he was and doesn't fall in any other eligible group, so she is a designated beneficiary under the 10-year rule.
- Deadline: 2025 + 10 = December 31, 2035.
- Yearly minimums: because he died after his required beginning date, she takes one each year from 2026 through 2034, then empties the account in 2035.
- 2026 minimum: she is 57 in 2026. Publication 590-B uses a Table I factor of 29.8 at age 57 in its own example; her life expectancy is longer than her father's would have been, so she uses hers. With a balance of $180,000 on December 31, 2025: $180,000 ÷ 29.8 = $6,040.27.
- Later years: she follows Publication 590-B's method for the factor in each later year, and she is free to take more than the minimum.
If a withdrawal is missed
A missed RMD can bring an excise tax of 25%, reduced to 10% if it's corrected in time (generally within two years), reported on Form 5329. The IRS can waive it if the shortfall came from a reasonable error and you are taking steps to fix it; you file Form 5329 with a letter of explanation. RMD amounts can't be rolled over.
Official sources
- IRS Publication 590-B (2025), Distributions from Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs)
- IRS: Retirement plan and IRA required minimum distributions FAQs (updated Jan. 29, 2026)
- IRS Notice 2024-35: certain required minimum distributions for 2024
Checked November 2026 on irs.gov and nj.gov.
Common questions
Can I roll an inherited IRA into my own IRA?
Not if you aren't the surviving spouse. Publication 590-B says a non-spouse beneficiary can't treat it as their own or roll money into or out of it, though a trustee-to-trustee transfer to an inherited IRA in the owner's name is allowed.
The owner died before their required beginning date. Do I have to withdraw every year?
No. Under the 10-year rule in that case, no distribution is required for any year before the 10th year.
I missed yearly withdrawals for 2021 to 2024. Is there a penalty?
For owners who died in 2020 through 2023 on or after their required beginning date, IRS notices said no excise tax would be asserted for those missed specified RMDs. The final regulations apply from 2025.
What's the penalty for missing an RMD now?
An excise tax of 25%, reduced to 10% if corrected within the correction window, reported on Form 5329. It can be waived for reasonable error.
When does a minor child's 10-year period start?
When the child reaches the age of majority, according to Publication 590-B.
Related guides: Tax documents checklist for 2027 · Ages 60-63 catch-up and Roth catch-up