It depends. Please read this IRS link as it details how to treat an inherited IRA. Rules are different depending on if the deceased was your spouse or non-spouse.
Inherited from spouse. If a traditional IRA is inherited from a spouse, the surviving spouse generally has the following three choices:
- Treat it as his or her own IRA by designating himself or herself as the account owner.
- Treat it as his or her own by rolling it over into a traditional IRA, or to the extent it is taxable, into a:
a. Qualified employer plan,
b. Qualified employee annuity plan (section 403(a) plan),
c. Tax-sheltered annuity plan (section 403(b) plan),
d. Deferred compensation plan of a state or local government (section 457(b) plan), or
3. Treat himself or herself as the beneficiary rather than treating the IRA as his or her own.
If a surviving spouse receives a distribution from his or her deceased spouse's IRA, it can be rolled over into an IRA of the surviving spouse within the 60-day time limit, as long as the distribution is not a required distribution, even if the surviving spouse is not the sole beneficiary of his or her deceased spouse's IRA.
Inherited from someone other than spouse. If the inherited traditional IRA is from anyone other than a deceased spouse, the beneficiary cannot treat it as his or her own. This means that the beneficiary cannot make any contributions to the IRA or roll over any amounts into or out of the inherited IRA. However, the beneficiary can make a trustee-to-trustee transfer as long as the IRA into which amounts are being moved is set up and maintained in the name of the deceased IRA owner for the benefit of the beneficiary.
**Say "Thanks" by clicking the thumb icon in a post
**Mark the post that answers your question by clicking on "Mark as Best Answer"
