Inherited IRA

Inherited IRA

An IRA in which distributions continue after the primary beneficiary's death. For an IRA to be inherited, the primary beneficiary must have already been receiving the required minimum distribution; the distributions either continue or are re-calculated based upon the secondary beneficiary's life expectancy. If the secondary beneficiary is the widow(er) of the primary beneficiary, she/he may roll over the inherited IRA into her/his own IRA without penalty.

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Inherited IRA. An inherited IRA is an IRA that passes to a beneficiary at the death of the IRA owner. If you name your spouse as the beneficiary of your IRA, your spouse inherits the IRA at your death. At that point, it is your spouse's property.

But if you name anyone other than your spouse, that beneficiary inherits the rights to income from your IRA, which continues to be registered in your name, but not the IRA itself.