The new bank would be correct that the RMD must be taken first if the old account was in a 401(k), 403(b), 457(b) or the federal TSP before doing a direct rollover to an inherited IRA, but for an inherited IRA which must be transferred by nonreportable trustee-to-trustee transfer there is no requirement that the RMD be taken first because a trustee-to-trustee transfer of an IRA is neither a distribution nor a rollover.
Bank personnel are notoriously poorly trained with regard to the handling of inherited IRAs.
