Just to be clear, my understanding is that the IRA you inherited was the IRA that your spouse inherited from your spouse's brother. The spousal inheritance options are not permitted to be used by a successor beneficiary. For you to be eligible to use the spousal beneficiary options your spouse would have to have been the original owner of the IRA. The IRA that you inherited as successor beneficiary was your spouse's brother's IRA, not your spouse's IRA. Your spouse was the beneficiary, not the participant.
