RE: Nobody will prompt you
I got caught by that some years ago. I had a traditional IRA I'd inherited from my mother. Then my husband died, and while I was dealing with all that (I rolled his IRAs into mine, but there were hospital bills to dispute and probate, etc.), I completely forgot about the RMD on the inherited one. When I finally remembered it, the first required year had passed. No letter from the broker; that is correct. Eventually got it straightened out-had to write a letter to the IRS begging forgiveness-that's another story.
It looks like, since children over age 18 are not an "eligible designated beneficiary," the distribution is 10 years until 12-31 of the 10th year after death. BUT the difference is if a person has not started RMDs, the 10 years has no minimum, but if RMDs have started, the beneficiary must use the single life expectancy table (for themself), until the last year when the account must be emptied.
This is for when the surviving spouse rolls the other spouse's traditional IRA into their own.
Just make sure you've named beneficiaries and that they are the ones you want named.
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RE: Nobody will prompt you I got caught by that some years ago. I had a traditional IRA I'd inherited from my mother. Then my husband died, and while I was dealing with all that (I rolled his IRAs into mine, but there were hospital bills to dispute and probate, etc.), I completely forgot about the RMD on the inherited one. When I finally remembered it, the first required year had passed. No letter from the broker; that is correct. Eventually got it straightened out-had to write a letter to the IRS begging forgiveness-that's another story.
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Link to comment from September 12, 2026
It looks like, since children over age 18 are not an "eligible designated beneficiary," the distribution is 10 years until 12-31 of the 10th year after death. BUT the difference is if a person has not started RMDs, the 10 years has no minimum, but if RMDs have started, the beneficiary must use the single life expectancy table (for themself), until the last year when the account must be emptied. This is for when the surviving spouse rolls the other spouse's traditional IRA into their own. Just make sure you've named beneficiaries and that they are the ones you want named.
Post: The IRA Decision That Affects Your Kids
Link to comment from April 18, 2026