The quick and general answer to your question is yes, but the facts are important. The rules for inheriting IRA assets can be complicated and may depend on the initial beneficiary's relationship with the original IRA owner, the type of IRA owned, and the age of the initial beneficiary, among other things. 

For example, a non-spouse beneficiary cannot roll the inherited IRA assets into his or her own IRA (a spouse may do so), but rather must either establish an IRA beneficiary distribution account (also known as an inherited IRA or BDA IRA) or take the inherited cash distribution as taxable income.  A newly established inherited IRA may (and should) have newly designated beneficiaries, but there also will be minimum distribution rules for the inherited IRA owner that are based on the age of the original IRA owner, not on the age of the inherited IRA owner.  

For resources related to our guidance, please see:

• IRS webpage, Retirement Topics, Traditional IRAs (“If you inherit a traditional IRA from anyone other than your deceased spouse, you cannot treat the inherited IRA as your own. This means that you cannot make any contributions to the IRA. It also means you cannot roll over any amounts into or out of the inherited IRA. However, you can make a trustee-to-trustee transfer as long as the IRA into which amounts are being moved is set up and maintained in the name of the deceased IRA owner for the benefit of you as beneficiary.”)

• IRS webpage, Retirement Topics — Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) (“Your required minimum distribution is the minimum amount you must withdraw from your account each year. You can withdraw more than the minimum required amount. Your withdrawals will be included in your taxable income except for any part that was taxed before (your basis) or that can be received tax-free (such as qualified distributions from designated Roth accounts).”)

• IRS webpage, Retirement Topics, Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) (“Individual beneficiaries other than a spouse can: withdraw the entire account balance by the end of the 5th year following the account owner’s death, if the account owner died before the required beginning date, or calculate RMDs using the distribution period from the Single Life Table based on: . . .”)