I have a 1099r for an IRA which I inherited from my mother who inherited it from her mother. Can you tell me if the RMD is based on my age or my mother?

[dmertz · Accepted solution]

You are a successor beneficiary.  A successor beneficiary must continue the distribution schedule of the original beneficiary, so in this case the RMDs would be based on your mother's age on her birthday in the year following the year in which her mother died, reduced by one for each subsequent year, just as your mother would have been required to take had your mother not died.  If your mother did not complete the beneficiary RMD for the year of her death, that responsibility falls to you.

[Critter]

This is a question for the IRA custodian ... they should have told you what you are required to take out and the other options on the distribution. 

[macuser_22]

Who's name in on the 1099-R?  Your mother or grandmother? (With you as benificuary).

That would be the owner of the IRA.   Assuming that the owner was 70 1/2 or older when they died, then:

Per IRS Pub 590B:  https://www.irs.gov/publications/p590b#en_US_2018_publink1000230756

"Owner Died On or After Required Beginning Date

If the owner died on or after his or her required beginning date (defined earlier), and you are the designated beneficiary, you must base required minimum distributions for years after the year of the owner's death on the longer of:

• Your single life expectancy shown on Table I in Appendix B as determined under Beneficiary an individual , later; or

• The owner's life expectancy as determined under Death on or after required beginning date , under Beneficiary not an individual, later."

[fanfare]

mu understanding is an Inherited IRA cannot be passed on death  to another beneficiary as an Inherited IRA.

[Critter]

What happens to an inherited IRA when the beneficiary dies?

If Chris is the beneficiary of an inherited IRA and he dies, the heirs he designated as his beneficiaries will become successor beneficiaries to the inherited IRA. These successor beneficiaries will not be able to recalculate the RMDs, however. ... The rules differ when the surviving spouse is the one who died.

Inherited IRA Rules for Spouses, Heirs and Trusts - AAII

https://www.aaii.com/journal/article/inherit...