The short answer
No, you don't have to take it all at once. You can't make it your own account either. A grown child usually has 10 years to empty an inherited IRA or 401(k).
If your parent had reached their required beginning date, you must also take something out every year along the way. That date is when your parent had to start their own yearly withdrawals.
What you take out of a traditional IRA or 401(k) is taxable income to you, in the year you take it, without the early-withdrawal penalty. The beneficiary form, not the will, usually decides who inherits.
This chapter explains how things usually work in the United States. It is not legal, tax or financial advice, and the rules where you live may differ. Before you act on anything here, check it with one of the people named at the end of the chapter.
What to do
- Ask the custodian who the named beneficiaries are.
- Open an inherited IRA in your parent's name, for your benefit, before moving anything.
- Ask whether your parent had reached the required beginning date.
- Check whether a withdrawal was due for the year of death, and whether it was taken.
- Ask a tax professional how to spread withdrawals over the 10 years.
- Ask for a direct transfer to the inherited account, since that is the only way an inherited 401(k) can move to an inherited IRA.
What can wait
- How fast to empty the account, within the rules. The yearly minimum, if it applies, and the withdrawal for the year of death are not part of this. They have deadlines.
- What to do with any money once you have taken it out.
Who can help
The custodian or plan administrator can tell you who is named and what the account's own rules are.
A tax professional can tell you how the federal rules apply to you. IRS Publication 590-B sets those rules out in full.
The rules, phone numbers and web addresses in this book were checked against the agencies’, courts’ and organizations’ own pages in October 2026. Where a rule differs by state, the book names one state as an example. Check anything you rely on with the office itself.
From Book 3: Their Money
This page has the short answer and the closing lists from chapter 4. The full chapter explains, in plain words, what exists, what to ask, and who can answer. The book covers months 1 to 12 after the death.
Questions near this one
Other questions on related subjects, from this book and the others.
- Do I owe tax on what I inherit? Book 3, Their Money
- What is probate, and does this estate need it? Book 2, Being in Charge
- Can I be paid for this? Book 2, Being in Charge
- What happens to their pension or annuity? Book 3, Their Money
Hear when Their Money is out
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