I recently read Michael Kitces article “Planning Opportunities for Non-Spouse Beneficiaries of Inherited Retirement Accounts”

Mr Kitces discusses the options available to a non spouse upon inheriting a 401(k) – most of which I am familiar.

The following is where he lost me

“In other words, an employer retirement plan that doesn’t offer non-spouse beneficiaries the option to Stretch an inherited employer retirement account must provide the opportunity to a do a trustee-to-trustee transfer to an inherited IRA instead (where it can be stretched)”

Question

For a plan that does offer a non-spouse bene the “stretch” option – is it required for the plan to also offer the opportunity to do a “trustee-to-trustee transfer to an inherited IRA? In other words in a plan that offers a “stretch” can the non spouse elect to trustee transfer the assets to an inherited instead – “stretching” from the IRA instead of the plan? Or is the bene required to stretch from the plan?

Thank you