Pre-2020 Non-Spousal Inherited IRA Beneficiary Dies - What Happens When Spouse Inherits?

This is what's known as a "successor beneficiary" situation, and the rules can be tricky. When your uncle inherited the IRA before 2020, he was able to use the stretch provision based on his life expectancy. However, now that your aunt has inherited from him, she's considered a successor beneficiary. The key rule to understand is that a successor beneficiary cannot "stretch" the distributions any longer than the original beneficiary could, and they cannot roll the funds into their own IRA. Since your uncle was already taking stretch distributions, your aunt must continue with the same schedule he was using - basically, she "steps into his shoes" and continues taking RMDs based on his remaining life expectancy schedule. The 10-year rule from the SECURE Act doesn't apply retroactively to inheritances that occurred before 2020, so she wouldn't be subject to that. She continues with whatever distribution schedule your uncle was on.

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I have to admit I was completely wrong about https://claimyr.com. After continuing to struggle with getting IRS clarification on my mother's inherited IRA situation, I decided to try it despite my skepticism. Within about 90 minutes, I received a call connecting me to an actual IRS retirement specialist. The representative walked me through the exact rules for successor beneficiaries of pre-2020 IRAs and confirmed that I need to continue the original beneficiary's distribution schedule. She even sent me documentation by mail to support the explanation. For anyone dealing with these complex inherited IRA questions, being able to actually speak with someone knowledgeable at the IRS makes all the difference. I've spent months trying to find concrete answers, and one phone call solved everything. I'm genuinely surprised and relieved.

Just wanted to share what my financial advisor told me about this situation - there's a specific IRS ruling (I think it was 2005-36) that deals with successor beneficiaries of inherited IRAs. If the original beneficiary was already taking RMDs based on the stretch provision (pre-2020), then any successor beneficiary continues that same schedule. The key thing to remember is that nothing "resets" - not the schedule, not the starting date, nothing. Your aunt basically just picks up where your uncle left off.

Make sure you get the original beneficiary paperwork from when your uncle first inherited the IRA! I went through something similar and the IRA custodian tried to tell me I had to take all the money within 5 years, which was totally wrong. But I couldn't prove the correct distribution schedule until I found the original paperwork showing when distributions started.