The SECURE Act changed retirement and inheritance planning when it became law in 2019. Later legislation and regulations added further changes. If your estate plan was designed around an inherited IRA lasting for a beneficiary’s lifetime, it is worth reviewing the plan under today’s rules.
Many inherited accounts have a ten-year deadline
For many beneficiaries who inherit after the account owner’s death in 2020 or later, the account must be emptied by the end of the tenth calendar year following the year of death. Certain employer-plan situations and older inheritances have different transition rules.
The ten-year rule does not always mean that a beneficiary may wait until year ten to take any distribution. When an owner dies on or after the required beginning date, many designated beneficiaries subject to that rule must also take annual required minimum distributions during the intervening years. The owner’s date of death, account type, beneficiary status, and applicable rules all matter.
Eligible designated beneficiaries can have different options. This group includes a surviving spouse, the account owner’s minor child, a disabled or chronically ill individual who meets the applicable standards, and an individual who is not more than ten years younger than the owner. The minor-child exception is not an exception for every minor beneficiary and generally changes when the owner’s child reaches age twenty-one.
Review contributions and your own withdrawal schedule
The SECURE Act removed the former age limit on traditional IRA contributions. A person still needs qualifying compensation or eligibility under the spousal IRA rules, and annual contribution limits and deduction rules apply.
The age at which lifetime required minimum distributions begin has also changed, and the applicable starting age depends on your year of birth. Review your own deadline rather than relying on an older plan’s assumptions. Roth IRAs do not require lifetime distributions from their original owners, although inherited Roth accounts are subject to beneficiary distribution rules.
Coordinate beneficiary forms and trusts
A trust named as beneficiary may provide useful control over an inheritance, but it needs careful drafting. Whether individual trust beneficiaries can be considered for distribution purposes depends on the trust and applicable requirements. A trust does not automatically reduce income taxes; retaining taxable income can create a larger tax burden than distributions to an individual.
Retirement benefits should also be coordinated with the rest of your estate, including Florida homestead, insurance, and property passing outside probate. For business owners, retirement-plan choices and succession planning should be considered together with tax and benefits advisers.
Contact Verras Law if you would like to review your beneficiary designations and the assumptions behind your existing plan.
Sources: IRS Publication 590-B: distributions; IRS Publication 590-A: contributions.
Updated October 26, 2026.