08 Mar Can inherited IRA withdrawals change with disability?

Q. Suppose the sole beneficiary of an IRA on the date of inheritance is categorized as a “non-eligible beneficiary” for the stretch provision, yet becomes disabled or chronically ill during the ten-year payout period. Do they then become eligible for the stretch payout of undistributed funds?
— Curious

A. Yours is a great question.

The SECURE Act — Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement of 2019 — changed the way inherited IRA accounts are treated.

The change requires most non-spouse beneficiaries to withdraw all the funds in the inherited IRA over a 10-year period, said Bernie Kiely, a certified financial planner and certified public accountant with Kiely Capital Management in Morristown.

“The withdrawals do not have to be done each year,” he said. “You can wait until the last day of the 10-year period and then withdraw all the funds at once. The change applies to both regular IRAs and Roth IRAs as well.”

There are five exceptions to the 10-year rule: a surviving spouse, a minor child (note the 10-year rule applies once the minor reaches the age of majority which is usually age 18), a disabled individual, a chronically ill individual or an individual who is not more than 10 years younger than the deceased participant or IRA owner.

But it seems those statuses must be at the time of the IRA owner’s death, though the SECURE Act is silent on the matter.

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This story was originally published on May 8, 2021.

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