You can name beneficiaries to receive your Roth IRA assets after you die. Any tax-deferred money in your Roth IRA at the time of your death will be taxable to your beneficiaries upon distribution, unless five years has passed since the first time you contributed to a Roth IRA. In that case, all beneficiary distributions will be tax-free.

Beneficiaries may take lump-sum payment, payments over a certain number of years (depending on the year of your death), or a spouse may treat your Roth IRA as his or her own.