A 60-day rollover lets you receive money from one IRA, hold it for up to 60 days, and redeposit it into another IRA without owing tax. For your own IRA, it works. For an inherited IRA, the rules are far stricter — and a non-spouse beneficiary who tries it ends up with a fully taxable distribution and a closed inherited IRA.
Here is who can do what, and the safer alternative.
Try the Free Inherited IRA RMD CalculatorNon-spouse beneficiaries: not allowed
A non-spouse beneficiary cannot perform a 60-day rollover on an inherited IRA. IRS Publication 590-B is direct on this: only a trustee-to-trustee transfer between like accounts is permitted.
If a non-spouse beneficiary takes a check from an inherited IRA intending to redeposit it within 60 days, the entire amount becomes a taxable distribution the day it leaves the account. There is no fix. The funds cannot be rolled back into any inherited IRA — at the original custodian or anywhere else.
This is a one-way door. The check is the distribution, the inherited IRA is closed for that portion, and the income hits your tax return for the year the funds were paid out.
Surviving spouses: yes, with options
A surviving spouse who is the sole beneficiary has two paths that a non-spouse does not.
First, a spouse can roll the inherited IRA into their own IRA, including via a 60-day rollover. Once that happens, the IRA is treated as the spouse's own from then on — same RMD start age, same early-withdrawal rules, same beneficiary mechanics.
Second, a spouse can keep the IRA as an inherited IRA in the spouse's name. The 60-day rollover option still exists between like inherited accounts, and the spouse can switch to treating the IRA as their own later. Once a spouse rolls the funds into their own IRA, that decision is generally one-way — you cannot move the money back into an inherited IRA structure.
One limit applies to both paths: an RMD already required for the year cannot be rolled over. If the original owner had not taken the year-of-death RMD before passing, the spouse must take that distribution first. Any RMD the spouse owes on the IRA after treating it as their own also has to come out as a distribution rather than be rolled.
The safe alternative: trustee-to-trustee transfer
When a non-spouse beneficiary wants to move an inherited IRA to a different custodian, the right tool is a trustee-to-trustee transfer. The new custodian pulls the funds directly from the old one. The beneficiary never touches the money. There is no 60-day clock, no taxable distribution, and no risk of breaking the inherited account.
Use the receiving custodian's inherited-IRA transfer form. The account on the receiving end must match: inherited Traditional IRA to inherited Traditional IRA, inherited Roth to inherited Roth, both titled in the name of the deceased original owner for the benefit of you as beneficiary.
For the broader beneficiary framework, see the inherited-IRA pillar hub and How It Works. The main RMD hub covers the underlying RMD rules across all account types.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute tax, legal, or financial advice. IRS rules and tax laws are subject to change. Consult a qualified tax professional or financial advisor for guidance specific to your situation. SimpleRMD is a calculation and tracking tool — not a financial advisory service.
Sources: IRS Final Regulations T.D. 10001 (July 2024). IRS.gov (Publication 590-B, RMD FAQs, "Rollovers of retirement plan and IRA distributions"). IRS Notices 2022-53, 2023-54, 2024-35. SECURE Act of 2019 (Pub. L. 116-94). SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 (Pub. L. 117-328). Rules confirmed current as of May 2026.