successor beneficiary to an (already) inherited IRA.

Please advise IRS rule regarding the above .It is my understanding that the successor beneficiary MUST continue the RMD schedule of the deceased designated beneficiary of the inherited IRA.

We now have MetLife claiming there is no such rule, and the successor beneficiary is a 12 year old boy, must take the IRA in a lump sum only.

Thank you.



I posted the IRS rule, in the other thread. However, an IRA custodian is allowed to have more restrictive requirements than the IRS, but those should be stated in their IRA agreement. IRA agreements typically include a provision in the beneficiary section of the account that will state that the successor beneficiary will succeed to the rights of the beneficiary or similar. Suggest that you check for such verbiage in the current contract that allows MetLife to require a lump sum distribution. It the contract has the provision it is legal, otherwise the requirement should be resisted.



  • If the IRA disclosure actually requires a lump sum distribution to a successor beneficiary, it should nonetheless be possible to perform a direct transfer to a new IRA custodian that will continue the original distribution schedule.  This would be initiated by the guardian or custodian for the boy.
  • There seems to be a number of 403(b) plan administrators, insurance companies, that require a lump sum distribution for successor beneficiaries, so possibly insurance conpanies favor this approach for IRAs as well.


My client inherited her mother’s IRA, is taking RMDs and named her husband as Successor beneficiary.  She wants to name a contingent successor beneficiary should her husband pre-decease her.  The custodian said this is not allowed.  I am curious as to whether the custodian does not allow it or if the law does not allow it.  So basically, my question is:  Can the beneficiary of an inherited IRA name both a successor Beneficiary and a contingent successor beneficiary?



The law certainly allows it, so this must be either a custodian restriction or a customer service error. For example, here is Schwab’s beneficiary IRA form and you can see on p 6 of the form that a contingent successor can be named in addition to the successor.     http://www.schwab.com/public/file/P-3719019/APP13599-22-ADA.pdf



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