I have a client who is a spouse survivor beneficiary of her husband 401K. Her husband passed away 6 years ago. She inherited the 401k balance of $1M. Few days ago she got a check to distribute the full amount less withholding tax. She called the plan and they said they distributed the balance due to the 5-year rule. She had no ideas of the 5-year rule, thought that the plan was under her name and she could wait until 72 years old to take the RMD.  Is there any way she can reverse the 5-year rule and select to take distributions based on her own life expectancy ? If so, what does she do with the distribution check ?

Thanks so much for your response.