An advisor called and said his 75-year-old client had just passed away. He had questions about the payout rules applicable to the three IRAs the client left behind: a traditional IRA, a Roth IRA, and an inherited IRA from his sister.

Did you inherit an IRA from someone who is NOT your spouse? If this is your situation, proceed with caution! For non-spouse beneficiaries, a wrong move can result in disastrous consequences.

Many IRA assets will ultimately go to non-spouse beneficiaries. When these beneficiaries inherit the funds, special rules kick in. Inherited IRAs are not like your own personal IRA account. Here are seven rules for inherited IRAs that may surprise you if you are a non-spouse beneficiary.

If you inherited an IRA between 2020 - 2023, your RMD (Required Minimum Distribution) penalty may be waived by IRS Notice 2023-54.

The biggest advantage that a spouse beneficiary of an IRA has over other beneficiaries is the ability to do a spousal rollover. With this, inherited retirement account funds become the spouse beneficiary’s own.

What are the tax consequences when a Roth IRA is split in divorce? It is our (Ed Slott's team's) opinion that the inherited IRA should continue using the original beneficiary’s single life expectancy (the son’s).

Do you have an IRA you are thinking about converting to a Roth IRA? Inheriting a traditional IRA will have very different tax consequences than inheriting a Roth IRA. Converting your IRA to a Roth IRA is really a gift to your beneficiaries.

Owners of Roth IRAs are never required to take lifetime RMDs from their Roth IRA. Since lifetime RMDs are not applicable to Roth IRAs, all Roth IRA owners are deemed to have died before the RBD. Even if a Roth IRA owner died at age 100, he would be deemed to have died before his RBD.

RMDs and how they function have been altered as SECURE 2.0 has taken affect. Read to see how in this article.

This article has questions about once-per-year rollovers and RMDs for inherited IRAs.

Inheriting an IRA is a big responsibility, so understanding the rules and applications for such an item is critical.

When a person is named the beneficiary from an inherited IRA, they have five years to empty that IRA. Learn more about this concept here.

If you know that you want to leave behind money or assets for your family members, is it better to give a gift while you are still living or an inheritance after death?

Many people dream of coming into an inheritance, but not all that glitters is gold. This article will help you understand the complexities of inheriting wealth—and why you need a strategy.