Q. My mother recently passed away and left me her IRA. I'd like to share some of this with my brother, who has school loans. Is there a good way to do this and minimize taxes at the same time?

A. First the bad news. You'll have to pay tax, but you may be able to avoid paying it all at one time. As for passing a portion of this to your brother, it may be done depending on how the IRA was set up and what's in your mother's will.

In general, it's a good idea to seek out a tax adviser for determining what should be done, says Alan R. Yukitomo, a Honolulu-based certified public accountant.

There's a certain amount of paperwork that goes with all this, including the IRA trustee filing a form acknowledging a continuing deferral of taxes until there is a distribution of proceeds, Yukitomo said.

What you probably want to avoid is getting a lump-sum distribution and giving half to your brother. Taxes on the entire amount would be due.

"That's a bad move because it ends the account and involves paying a lot of money," said Ed Slott, a Rockville Centre, N.Y.-based CPA who publishes a monthly IRA newsletter and is author of "Parlay Your IRA Into a Family Fortune."

Instead, consider refusing to receive half of the money, something called "disclaiming." Slott said you can withdraw the remaining portion of the IRA in increments that will be taxed at your income rate.

Several things can happen with the disclaimed portion. The trustee will look to see if there is a "contingent" beneficiary, or someone who's second in line for the money. If your brother is named, it may be passed on to him.

A second way is more complex and depends on the rules of the company administering the IRA. Most likely the disclaimed money will be transferred to your mother's estate and distributed in accordance with her will.

If that's the case, and if only you and your brother are named as beneficiaries, you can do a second disclaimer. In effect, you'll decline to receive that portion of the estate's proceeds, Slott said.

There are different time spans over which these proceeds can be withdrawn. If your mother died before she reached age 70 1/2, your brother must take it out within five years.

If she had reached that age and had started receiving distributions, your brother can take payments based on a formula tied to your mother's life expectancy had she not passed away, Slott said.

If you want to learn more and have the stamina to read what the IRS has to say about IRAs, Yukitomo suggested looking at IRS Publication 590.

Some of this could have been avoided if the financial adviser who set up the IRA had carefully reviewed the beneficiary form, Slott said.

"Advisers have to provide a better level of service," he said. "Part of handling it is getting it out, not just taking it in. On the way out is where all the mistakes are made."

Reach Greg Wiles at gwiles@honoluluadvertiser.com.