dmertz,
Thank you for your answers to my questions. I don't really want to file a 1041 for each of the next 10 years, so I'll look into transferring the IRA out of the trust.
You said "There have been many cases the IRS has issued written determinations to particular taxpayers allowing the inherited IRA maintained for the benefit of the trust to be split and trustee-to-trustee transferred out of the trust to inherited IRAs for the benefit of the trust beneficiaries.... ".
If available, please provide a reference that I can show the brokerage firm (just point me in the right direction, and I'll dig it up on the internet).
