How many years do we have to withdraw all the funds from a decedent account?

[trawickt57]

Mother died in 2015, was 87, had IRA, we (age 60) began taking RMDs from the decedent account. How many years do we have to withdraw all the funds?

[dmertz]

Because Mother died before 2020, the old rules apply to mother's beneficiary(s).  Non-souse beneficiaries must continue to take the RMDs according to the factor from the Single Life Expectancy table based on the beneficiary's age attained in 2016, reduced by 1 for each subsequent year.  The IRS changed the factors in the Single Life Expectancy table for RMDs for 2022 and beyond, so you must re-determine the life expectancy factor for 2016 using the new table and subtract 1 from this new factor for each year after 2016.  For 2023 that would mean reducing the factor by 7.

If funds remain in the inherited IRA upon the death of the original beneficiary after 2019, the successor beneficiary must continue the RMD schedule of the original beneficiary and completely empty the inherited IRA by the end of the 10th year following the year of the original beneficiary's death.