Inherited IRA Rules and the 10-Year Rule

TL;DR: Under the SECURE Act, most non-spouse beneficiaries who inherit an IRA from someone who died after December 31, 2019, must empty the account by the end of the 10th calendar year after the year of death. Under the 2024 final regulations, they must also take annual required minimum distributions (RMDs) in years one through nine if the original owner had already reached their own required beginning date. Five categories of “eligible designated beneficiaries,” including a surviving spouse and a minor child of the owner, are exempt from the 10-year rule and can generally stretch distributions over their own life expectancy instead. This guide builds on the fundamentals covered in our broader IRA investing hub and focuses specifically on what happens to an account after the original owner dies.

What Is the 10-Year Rule for Inherited IRAs?

The 10-year rule requires most beneficiaries who are not the original owner’s spouse, and who do not fit one of five narrower exceptions, to fully distribute an inherited IRA by December 31 of the 10th calendar year after the year the owner died. The rule traces to IRC 401(a)(9)(H), added by Section 401 of the SECURE Act, and it applies to deaths after December 31, 2019. The Federal Register preamble to the 2024 final regulations describes the mechanism directly: the statute’s five-year rule for certain beneficiaries “is applied by substituting 10 years for 5 years” once the SECURE Act provision controls. In practice, that means a beneficiary subject to the rule has flexibility in how they space out withdrawals during the 10-year window, as long as the account reaches zero by the deadline.

This 10-year clock is the central change the SECURE Act made to inherited IRAs, and it replaced the life-expectancy “stretch” that most non-spouse beneficiaries could previously use to spread withdrawals over decades. The rule applies per beneficiary and per account, and it runs regardless of the beneficiary’s own age, whether the inherited account is a Traditional, SEP, SIMPLE, or Roth IRA. See our guide to the types of IRA accounts for how each of those structures works for the original owner.

Who Has to Take Annual RMDs During the 10-Year Window?

Whether a beneficiary owes annual RMDs during years one through nine of the 10-year window depends on one fact: whether the original owner died before or on/after their own required beginning date. The required beginning date is generally April 1 of the year following the year the owner reached the applicable RMD age, which is age 73 for owners born 1951 through 1959 and age 75 for owners born 1960 or later.

If the owner died on or after that required beginning date, the 2024 final regulations require the beneficiary to take annual life-expectancy RMDs in years one through nine of the 10-year window, in addition to emptying the account by the end of year 10. This outcome is not spelled out as a single sentence in the regulations themselves. It is the combined operation of two rules: the long-standing “at least as rapidly” requirement in IRC 401(a)(9)(B)(i), which says a beneficiary generally cannot distribute more slowly than the owner would have, and the newer 10-year rule in section 401(a)(9)(H). The Internal Revenue Service articulated this combined result most directly in Notice 2024-35, stating that the beneficiary of an employee who died after the required beginning date “must take an annual RMD beginning in the first calendar year after the calendar year of the employee’s death,” with the remaining balance distributed by the 10th calendar year. This requirement applies for calendar years beginning on or after January 1, 2025.

If the owner died before reaching their required beginning date, the annual-RMD requirement does not apply. The beneficiary can wait, withdraw unevenly, or take nothing at all in the interim, as long as the entire account is distributed by the end of year 10.

Which Beneficiaries Are Exempt From the 10-Year Rule?

Five categories of “eligible designated beneficiaries” are exempt from the 10-year rule and may generally use the life-expectancy stretch instead, under IRC 401(a)(9)(E)(ii): the owner’s surviving spouse, a minor child of the account owner, a disabled individual as defined in IRC 72(m)(7), a chronically ill individual as defined in IRC 7702B(c)(2), and any other individual not more than 10 years younger than the owner. IRS Publication 590-B confirms the same list, stating that a beneficiary qualifies as an eligible designated beneficiary if they are “the owner’s surviving spouse, the owner’s minor child, a disabled individual, a chronically ill individual, or any other individual who is not more than 10 years younger than the IRA owner.”

Eligible designated beneficiary status is determined as of the date of the owner’s death, which matters for planning since the classification does not change later based on a beneficiary’s circumstances. A minor child who is an eligible designated beneficiary generally converts to the 10-year rule once they reach the age of majority under the relevant rules, at which point the 10-year clock begins to run.

What Are a Surviving Spouse’s Options?

A surviving spouse who is the sole beneficiary of an IRA has options that no other beneficiary gets. According to IRS Publication 590-B, a surviving spouse may elect to treat the inherited IRA as their own, either by naming themselves as the account owner or by rolling the funds into their own IRA. That election puts the ordinary owner rules in place, including the spouse’s own required beginning date and RMD schedule going forward, rather than the beneficiary rules.

Alternatively, a surviving spouse can choose to remain a beneficiary and keep the account titled as an inherited IRA. This route allows the spouse to access funds before age 59½ without triggering the 10% early-withdrawal tax that would otherwise apply to a distribution from their own IRA, since inherited-IRA withdrawals are not subject to that penalty regardless of the beneficiary’s age.

A non-spouse beneficiary does not have either option. Publication 590-B is explicit that a non-spouse beneficiary cannot treat an inherited IRA as their own and cannot make new contributions or rollovers into it, though a trustee-to-trustee transfer to a properly titled inherited IRA at a different custodian is permitted.

How Is an Inherited IRA’s RMD Calculated?

A beneficiary’s RMD for a given year is calculated the same way an owner’s lifetime RMD is calculated: the account’s balance as of the prior December 31 is divided by an applicable life-expectancy factor. The difference is which table applies. IRS Publication 590-B directs beneficiaries of inherited accounts to Table I, the Single Life Expectancy table, in Appendix B, rather than the Uniform Lifetime Table an owner uses for their own lifetime RMDs. See our full required minimum distributions guide for how an owner’s own lifetime RMD works. This calculation only applies to beneficiaries who owe an annual RMD, meaning eligible designated beneficiaries using the life-expectancy stretch, and 10-year-rule beneficiaries in years one through nine when the owner died on or after their required beginning date.

Missing an RMD, whether it is an owner’s lifetime RMD or a beneficiary’s annual inherited-IRA RMD, carries a real cost. Under IRC 4974, the excise tax on a missed RMD is 25% of the shortfall, the amount by which the required distribution exceeded what was actually withdrawn, for taxable years beginning after December 29, 2022. That tax drops to 10% if the shortfall is corrected within the correction window described in the regulations. The tax is reported on Form 5329.

Are Inherited Roth IRAs Treated Differently?

An inherited Roth IRA is still subject to the same beneficiary distribution framework described above, even though the original owner never had to take lifetime RMDs from it. The Internal Revenue Service is direct on this point: beneficiaries of Roth IRAs are subject to RMD rules even though the original owner is not. That means the 10-year rule, the eligible-designated-beneficiary exceptions, and the annual-RMD-in-years-one-through-nine requirement all apply to an inherited Roth IRA in the same way they apply to an inherited traditional IRA. See our Roth IRA guide for the account’s contribution and conversion rules while the original owner is still living.

The meaningful difference is tax treatment, not timing. Because qualified Roth distributions are not includible in gross income under IRC 408A(d)(1)(A), a beneficiary who withdraws from an inherited Roth IRA, including a distribution that empties the account at the end of year 10, generally does not owe income tax on that withdrawal, as long as the Roth IRA had satisfied its own five-year holding requirement. The structural clock and the exemption categories are identical. Only the tax bill on the way out is different.

Do the Same Rules Apply to IRAs Inherited Before 2020?

No. Publication 590-B states plainly that IRAs inherited from decedents who died in 2019 or earlier are subject to different rules than the SECURE Act framework described in this article, and points readers to the Internal Revenue Service’s “Retirement Topics – Beneficiary” page for that older framework. The 10-year rule, the eligible-designated-beneficiary categories, and the years-one-through-nine annual-RMD requirement described here apply to deaths in tax years beginning after December 31, 2019. A beneficiary who inherited an account before that date should confirm which set of rules governs their specific account with a qualified tax professional rather than assuming either framework applies by default.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the 10-year rule for an inherited IRA? It is the requirement, added by the SECURE Act, that most non-spouse beneficiaries of an IRA owner who died after December 31, 2019, fully distribute the inherited account by the end of the 10th calendar year after the year of death.

Do I have to take RMDs every year from an inherited IRA, or just empty it by year 10? It depends on when the original owner died relative to their required beginning date. If the owner died on or after their required beginning date, the beneficiary must take annual life-expectancy RMDs in years one through nine, then empty the account by the end of year 10. If the owner died before their required beginning date, no annual RMD is required, only the year-10 deadline.

Who is exempt from the inherited IRA 10-year rule? Five categories of eligible designated beneficiaries are exempt: the owner’s surviving spouse, the owner’s minor child, a disabled individual, a chronically ill individual, and an individual not more than 10 years younger than the owner. These beneficiaries can generally use the life-expectancy stretch instead of the 10-year rule.

What are a surviving spouse’s options for an inherited IRA? A surviving spouse who is the sole beneficiary can elect to treat the IRA as their own, taking on the ordinary owner RMD rules, or remain a beneficiary and keep it as an inherited IRA, which allows penalty-free withdrawals before age 59½.

Are inherited Roth IRAs subject to RMD rules? Yes. Even though the original owner never had a lifetime RMD requirement, a beneficiary of a Roth IRA is subject to the same 10-year rule, eligible-designated-beneficiary exceptions, and annual-RMD structure that apply to an inherited traditional IRA. Qualified withdrawals remain free of income tax.

Do the inherited IRA rules apply if the account owner died before 2020? No. IRAs inherited from owners who died in 2019 or earlier follow a different, older framework. The SECURE Act 10-year rule described in this article applies to deaths in tax years beginning after December 31, 2019.

This article is educational information, not individualized tax, legal, or financial advice. Always consult your own legal, financial, and tax professionals before opening or changing a retirement account, including decisions about how and when to distribute an inherited IRA.

By Tim Schmidt + Sean Webster Reviewed by Sean Webster