There is only one beneficiary and distributee of the Estate, the son. He wants to take the full distribution but I am trying to save some taxes by taxing him as an individual rather than the Estate. I think you can pass the tax onto the beneficiary if it is done within a certain period of time, just not sure if it is from date of death or date of distribution.

FACTS
T-IRA owner died July 2011 – unsure if deceased was < or > 70 1/2
Ex-spouse was primary beneficiary
Although the 9 month period (disclaimer deadline expired – a petition was submitted (and accepted) by the court – with the x-spouse renouncing the inheritance – making the estate the inheritor
The son is the sole beneficiary of the estate
No distributions have been taken

Question(s)
What options does the son have?
I’m thinking it’s depended on the age of the deceased – If passing occurred < 70 1/2 - the son is locked into the "5-year" rule - full payout by 12/31/2016 or....
if passed occurred > 70 1/2 – life-expectancy payout using the remaining life-expectancy of the deceased. Although – son would need to retroactively take missed RMDs (2012, ’13, ’14,) and file a stand 5329 for each year the RMD was missed.

All help is appreciated.

Thank you