They pass outside the will
An IRA or 401(k) does not pass under your will. It passes to the person named on its beneficiary designation form, and that form controls no matter what your will or trust says. This is enormously powerful and enormously easy to get wrong: a form naming an ex-spouse, a predeceased sibling, or no one at all will govern at death, and it cannot be corrected afterward. The single most valuable thing most people can do with their retirement accounts is keep the beneficiary forms current — the subject of the beneficiary-audit page.
The SECURE Act shift
For decades a non-spouse heir could “stretch” an inherited IRA over their own life expectancy, spreading the income tax across decades. The SECURE Act ended that for most beneficiaries of owners who die after 2019, replacing it with the 10-year rule: the inherited account must be emptied within ten years of death (IRC § 401(a)(9)(H)). The IRS’s 2024 final regulations (T.D. 10001, effective 2025) added the wrinkle that has confused nearly everyone: if the owner had already started required minimum distributions, the beneficiary must also take annual RMDs in years one through nine, not just empty the account by year ten. The full mechanics are on the 10-year-rule page.
Who the rules treat differently
Not everyone is on the 10-year clock. A category called eligible designated beneficiaries can still take distributions over life expectancy: a surviving spouse, a minor child of the account owner (until majority, then a 10-year clock), a disabled or chronically ill individual, and a beneficiary not more than ten years younger than the owner (IRC § 401(a)(9)(E)). A surviving spouse has the most options of all, including treating the account as their own. The differences — and why naming the right beneficiary matters so much now — are laid out on the spouse-vs-non-spouse page.
The Roth angle
The 10-year rule taxes traditional-IRA heirs on every dollar they withdraw. A Roth changes the calculus: the original owner pays the income tax up front on a conversion, takes no required distributions during life, and leaves an account that heirs can inherit and withdraw income-tax-free (though still within ten years). Whether pre-paying that tax helps the next generation depends on whose bracket is higher — the mechanics, and the cases where it backfires, are on the Roth-conversions page.
Annuities inside an IRA
An IRA is already tax-deferred, so an annuity held inside one is purchased for guaranteed income, not for tax deferral — a distinction worth understanding before assuming the two stack. A particular contract, the qualified longevity annuity contract (QLAC), can even push a slice of required distributions out to age 85. How IRA annuities interact with the distribution rules, and which death rules apply, are covered — educationally, without product recommendations — on the annuities-inside-an-IRA page.
These decisions interact with the rest of an estate plan and with each beneficiary’s own tax situation. If you want a professional to model your accounts against your goals, our directory of estate-planning professionals lists people you can verify yourself.
Common questions
Does my will control who gets my IRA?
No. A retirement account passes to whoever is named on its beneficiary designation form, and that form overrides your will entirely. If the form names an ex-spouse, or names no one, the account follows the form (or the plan's default), no matter what your will says. Reviewing and updating beneficiary forms is one of the highest-value, lowest-effort steps in an estate plan — see the beneficiary-audit page.
Can my children still 'stretch' an inherited IRA over their lifetimes?
Generally no, for deaths after 2019. The SECURE Act replaced the lifetime stretch for most non-spouse beneficiaries with a 10-year rule: the inherited account must be fully distributed within ten years of the owner's death (IRC § 401(a)(9)(H)). Certain 'eligible designated beneficiaries' — a surviving spouse, a minor child of the owner, a disabled or chronically ill person, or someone not more than ten years younger — can still stretch. Everyone else is on the 10-year clock.
Do I have to take money out every year during those ten years?
It depends on when the owner died relative to their required beginning date. Under the IRS's 2024 final regulations, if the owner had already reached their required beginning date and started RMDs, a non-eligible beneficiary must take annual required distributions in years one through nine and empty the account by year ten. If the owner died before that date, there are no annual RMDs — only the year-ten deadline. These annual RMDs are required beginning in 2025.
Sources & methodology
Methodology & sources
The governing statute is IRC § 401(a)(9), including the 10-year rule at § 401(a)(9)(H) and the eligible-designated-beneficiary categories at § 401(a)(9)(E), linked to Cornell’s Legal Information Institute. The annual-RMD-within-ten-years requirement comes from the IRS’s final regulations under § 401(a)(9) (Treasury Decision 10001, July 2024), effective for 2025. Figures and rules are re-verified on each change in guidance — see our editorial standards.
This page is educational and is not legal, tax, or investment advice. Retirement-account rules interact with your other assets and each beneficiary’s situation; use this to understand the framework and confirm the details with a qualified professional.
Last verified July 20, 2026.