The core rule
When a beneficiary dies, their successor continues the same distribution schedule the original beneficiary was on:
- If the original beneficiary was under the 10-year rule, you get the remaining years, not a fresh 10.
- If annual RMDs applied (owner died on/after their required beginning date), they continue to apply to you, on the same factor-minus-one schedule.
- If the original beneficiary was an eligible designated beneficiary on the life-expectancy stretch, you continue their schedule, you do not get to restart based on your own life expectancy. (One exception: a successor to an EDB who was taking life-expectancy payments can receive a new 10-year period measured from that beneficiary's death, genuinely ambiguous territory; confirm with a CPA.)
Example. Your mother inherited a traditional IRA from your grandfather in 2021 (he died in 2020, after starting RMDs, so the 10-year rule with annual RMDs). She took distributions for 2022, 2023, and 2024, then died in 2025. You inherit in 2026: the account must still be empty by December 31, 2030 (year 10 from the original death), and you continue the annual RMD schedule using the next factor in her sequence, not a new schedule based on your age.
What makes this dangerous
The compressed timeline. Successors routinely assume they get 10 years. If the original beneficiary was already in year 7, you may have only 3 years to empty the account, with annual RMDs continuing in the meantime. A large balance compressed into a few years means severe tax bunching. The first thing to establish is what year of the original schedule you're in, because everything flows from that.
- Custodian paperwork lags. Inherited IRAs retitled to a successor sometimes get set up wrong, the new account may not reflect the original death year. Verify the titling and the schedule independently; don't trust the custodian's default.
- The year-of-death RMD (again). If the original beneficiary died after their required beginning date for the inherited IRA but hadn't taken that year's RMD, the successor must take it by December 31 of the year of death.
- Multiple successors, one account. If several people inherit the same inherited IRA, separate accounts should be established, the deadline doesn't extend, but clean titling prevents one person's delay from becoming everyone's penalty.
What to do first
- Establish the original owner's year of death and the original beneficiary's regime, that fixes your deadline and your annual schedule.
- Find out which distributions the original beneficiary already took, the factor sequence continues from there.
- Calculate this year's RMD on the continuing schedule and take it by December 31.
- Plan the remaining withdrawals across the years left, with a compressed window, spreading matters more, not less.
Disclaimer. Educational purposes only, not tax, legal, or financial advice. Successor rules are among the most fact-specific in the RMD framework; verify with a qualified tax professional. IRS Publication 590-B is the authoritative source.