Inherited retirement accounts have a strange property. They arrive looking like a gift and behave like a deadline.
Somebody names you on a form. Years later a plan administrator sends you a letter. And attached to that letter is a set of rules that will decide how much of the account you actually keep and how much goes to the IRS.
The rules changed significantly in recent years, and most of the advice floating around the internet is describing a system that no longer exists.
Worse, an inherited 401(k) does not follow the same rules as an inherited IRA. The plan gets a say. And the plan's default choice is frequently the worst available option.
Here is the map.