The RMD in the year of death

If the owner died on or after their required beginning date without taking that year's full RMD, the beneficiaries take what was left of it. It is the owner's own RMD: last December 31's balance divided by the Table III divisor for the age the owner reached that year. The heirs' own yearly amounts start the year after.

The tool is set to the owner's figure: an owner born in 1945, in 2026.

Balance, last December 31$ Tax year

The original owner

Owner's birth year Year the owner died

The person I inherited from had inherited it too (I am a successor)

You

Your birth year Taken so far this year$

Your beneficiary category what these mean

Surviving spouse of the owner Minor child of the owner, under 21 at the death Disabled or chronically ill Not more than 10 years younger than the owner, or older Anyone else: an adult child, grandchild, niece, friend

Assumed yearly growth, for the schedule only%

Your 2026 RMD $0

General information, not tax or financial advice. Confirm with your custodian or a tax professional.

How this figure was found

Year by year

Balances after this year assume the growth rate you set; the divisors do not depend on it.

Year	Age	Divisor	Start balance	Required

Working out the year-of-death RMD

Use "I own it" and type the owner's birth year: the calculator then shows the owner's RMD for that year. An owner born in 1945 reaches 81 in 2026; Table III at 81 is 19.4:

$320,000 ÷ 19.4 = $16,494.85

Subtract what the owner had already taken that year; the rest comes out to the beneficiaries. Then switch to "I inherited it" for each heir's own schedule, which starts in 2027.

General information, not tax or financial advice. Confirm with your custodian or a tax professional. The tables are IRS Publication 590-B (2025), Appendix B.

Questions people ask next

What if the owner died before their required beginning date?

Then there is no year-of-death RMD to finish, and none for that year.

When is the year-of-death RMD due?

Normally by December 31 of the year of death. The IRS has rules that can excuse a late one when the owner died late in the year; confirm with your custodian or a tax professional.

Does it reduce my own first RMD?

No. It belongs to the year of death. Your own yearly amounts, if any, start the next year. See how to calculate an inherited IRA RMD.

Several people inherited the account. Who takes it?

Any beneficiary may take it. This calculator does not split it among several beneficiaries.