# The Inherited IRA Clock

> You inherited an IRA or a 401(k). It came with a deadline, and for many beneficiaries, a required withdrawal every year too.

Source: https://ridleylawoffices.com/books/inherited-ira-clock/

![Cover of The Inherited IRA Clock: A Beneficiary's Guide to Deadlines, Distributions and Taxes, by Eric Ridley](/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/inherited-ira-clock-eric-ridley-cover-640.webp)

A Beneficiary’s Guide to Deadlines, Distributions and Taxes

By Eric Ridley, attorney, Ridley Law

Coming soon to Amazon

[See all books by Eric Ridley](https://ridleylawoffices.com/books/)

**You inherited an IRA or a 401(k). It came with a deadline, and for many beneficiaries, a required withdrawal every year too.**

The Inherited IRA Clock is a plain-English guide for the son, daughter, spouse or trustee who just learned they’re the beneficiary of a retirement account. It’s written by a California attorney whose practice emphasizes estate planning, trust administration and probate, and it follows the order a beneficiary meets the problem: the first month, the beneficiary form, your category, and then the clock that applies to you.

What’s inside:

- **The first 30 days.** Why you shouldn’t cash out, how an inherited IRA is set up, and the year-of-death distribution families miss.
- **What changed.** The SECURE Act, the final IRS regulations, and why so many beneficiaries were told different things from 2020 to 2024.
- **Your category.** The five eligible designated beneficiaries, and what everyone else is held to.
- **The 10-year rule.** When ten years means nothing until year ten, and when it also means a distribution every year.
- **Spouses, minor children, and disabled or chronically ill beneficiaries.** The longer clocks, and how to qualify for them.
- **Trusts and estates.** Conduit and accumulation trusts, why trust tax brackets matter, and what happens when nobody was named.
- **Inherited Roth accounts.** Tax-free withdrawals that still run on a deadline.
- **Taxes in plain numbers.** How the timing of withdrawals changes the tax.
- **Missed a distribution?** The penalty, how it shrinks, and how to ask the IRS to waive it.

Every dollar example is labeled as an illustration and shows its arithmetic. Every rule is tied to its source in the Internal Revenue Code, the Treasury regulations or IRS guidance. The back of the book has printable checklists, worksheets, a life expectancy table, a glossary and answers to the questions families ask most.

*This book is general information about federal law, and California law where noted. It isn’t legal, tax or financial advice. The families in it are composites.*

## Read the free guide first

- [Inherited IRAs and the 10-year rule](https://ridleylawoffices.com/inherited-ira-10-year-rule-california/)
- [Inherited IRA distribution calculator](https://ridleylawoffices.com/inherited-ira-calculator/)

## More books: when you inherit

- [![Cover of What to Expect When You're Inheriting, by Eric Ridley](/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/what-to-expect-when-youre-inheriting-eric-ridley-cover-400.webp)What to Expect When You’re InheritingComing soon](https://ridleylawoffices.com/books/what-to-expect-when-youre-inheriting/)
- [![Cover of The Prop 19 Trap, by Eric Ridley](/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/the-prop-19-trap-eric-ridley-cover-400.webp)The Prop 19 TrapComing soon](https://ridleylawoffices.com/books/prop-19-trap/)
- [![Cover of You Just Inherited a Million Dollars, by Eric Ridley](/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/you-just-inherited-a-million-dollars-eric-ridley-cover-400.webp)You Just Inherited a Million DollarsComing soon](https://ridleylawoffices.com/books/you-just-inherited-a-million-dollars/)