Updated July 28, 2026. Quick answer: A grandchild is not covered by the minor-child exception — that category is the account owner’s own child. A grandchild of any age is a designated beneficiary on the standard 10-year clock.
The exception people assume applies
The minor-child category of eligible designated beneficiary is frequently described as “minor children.” The statute means the account owner’s minor children. A grandchild does not qualify, however young.
So the instinct to skip a generation — often precisely to get a longer stretch — produces the opposite of the intended effect. See the five categories in full.
What the 10-year clock means for a young beneficiary
A grandchild inheriting in their twenties empties the account across their late twenties and thirties — rising-income years. Naming them can hand a large ordinary-income event to someone with no tax planning and no adviser.
Alternatives worth pricing
- Convert to Roth first, so what they inherit is tax-free across the ten years.
- Leave the IRA to a charity or to a child in a lower bracket, and leave the grandchild assets that get a basis step-up instead.
- A trust, if control over a young beneficiary is the actual goal — but understand what that costs.
Sources
SECURE Act (2019); SECURE 2.0 (2022); final RMD regulations published 19 July 2024; IRC §401(a)(9); IRC §1014 (basis of property acquired from a decedent); IRC §664 (charitable remainder trusts). Cross-checked July 2026 against professional analyses from Kitces, Grant Thornton, Ascensus, Charles Schwab and Kiplinger. Indexed figures and state-specific rules are flagged rather than asserted.
This states what the cited authority says. It is not tax or legal advice, and beneficiary planning turns on family facts and state law that no page can see.