Assuming that this retirement account is not a retirement account inherited by a non-spouse beneficiary and that this was a qualified retirement account like an IRA or 401(k), it might be possible to roll the money over to an IRA to avoid current taxation and possible early-distribution penalty. The ability to do so generally depends on the rollover being completed within 60 days of constructive receipt of the distribution. Beyond that it might be possible to roll the distribution over after the 60-day deadline by applying IRS Revenue Procedure 2016-47, self-certifying that the circumstances qualify for a waiver of the deadline for one of the reasons indicated in the Revenue Procedure (although I don't know if these circumstances precisely meet any to the permissible reasons for missing the deadline, perhaps 3.02(2)(b) or (c)):
https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/rp-16-47.pdf
The IRS has actually granted for a particular taxpayer a waiver of the 60-day deadline under seemingly identical circumstances, so it seems reasonable that self-certification would be possible:
https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-wd/201611028.pdf
If it isn't rolled over, it will be subject to income tax and possible early-distribution penalty as indicated by HACKITOFF.
