We had a client couple where the husband inherited an IRA from his mother. The couple then divorced and the wife, still our client, received a QDRO of $100,000 from the inherited IRA. How do we calculate the RMD?

Before posting here, we thought to use what we felt was the most conservative option we considered: continue RMDs based on the husband’s life expectancy at his mother’s date of death, less one year for each since. This is more conservative than using the ex-wife’s life because the ex-husband is one year older than she.