"is if after doing 1/3 on 2020 can he report 2/3 on 2021 and nothing on 2022"

Yes, and this is not the first time it was asked. That's what I was replying to. There was never the option to spread it out; that is the Default for disaster distributions. The option was to report it all in one year. The way to report the remainder in year two is when the taxpayer taking the distribution has since died.

"No you can't. That election needed to be "timely filed"."

Oh, true; that ship has now passed.