If you inherit a 401(k) or similar tax-deferred workplace retirement account, any money you take out will be taxed as ordinary income. You usually don’t have to take the money out all at once, however.

If you inherit a 401(k) from a spouse, you can choose to roll it over it into your own IRA, in which case you will not be forced to start taking distribution until age 70.5.

If you inherit a 401(k) from someone other than a spouse, you must withdraw the money according to the employer’s rules. Most employers force heirs to withdraw money from inherited 401(k) plans in a lump sum or over five years. Until recently, non-spouse heirs did not have the option of rolling a 401(k) plan into an IRA. Now they can, but only if the 401(k) plan allows such rollovers.

If you inherit a 401(k) from someone other than a spouse who died in 2006 or later, you can roll the account into an inherited IRA if the plan 401(k) allows. However, the money must be moved directly from the 401(k) into a properly titled inherited IRA via a trustee-to-trustee transfer. You must segregate the account from other IRAs and complete the transfer no later than Dec. 31 of the year following the year of death. Once the money is in the IRA, you must begin taking distributions from the account based on your life expectancy.