Elissa Bass over at Get Rich Slowly addressed “what to do if you inherit an IRA?”
The first thing to know is whether the IRA owner died before the required beginning date (RBD) for taking required minimum withdrawals. The RBD is April 1 of the year after the year the IRA owner reaches age 70 ½. If death occurs before the RBD, the tax rules stipulate that a non-spouse IRA beneficiary must begin taking required minimum withdrawals over the beneficiary’s life expectancy. The first withdrawal must occur by Dec. 31 of the year following the year the account owner dies. These withdrawals are required in order to avoid the 50% penalty.
You can read the whole article here, check it out: