Inherited IRA question

In 2016, a taxpayer inherited the IRA of his brother, and he elected to stretch the IRA. In 2020, he passes away, and the beneficiary is his spouse.

Question is can the spouse take the IRA as her own and continue payments over her lifetime? Or is she subject to the CARES Act 10 year rule?

Thanks for any replies.

My understanding is that because it's a inherited IRA where the original owner as her brother-in-law, she cannot treat the IRA as her own and would have to continue the payments as is and cannot recalculate the payments.

On 3/9/2021 at 10:14 AM, bzorc said:

In 2016, a taxpayer inherited the IRA of his brother, and he elected to stretch the IRA. In 2020, he passes away, and the beneficiary is his spouse.

Question is can the spouse take the IRA as her own and continue payments over her lifetime? Or is she subject to the CARES Act 10 year rule?

Thanks for any replies.

His spouse is subject to the 10-year rule.  She cannot take it as her own, because she is not the spouse of the original owner. Under the SECURE Act, she is subject to the 10-year rule .