Waiving/Declining IRA Benefit as Beneficiary

What is the name of your state?NY

I am the beneficiary of a number of IRA accounts belonging to a deceased relative. Is there a way to decline a share of the account and pass this on to the contingent beneficiaries? Or does the share pass to the estate?

In either case, I fear the tax consequences. Am I, the primary beneficiary, responsible for state and federal taxes on the declined portion, or are the recipients responsible?

Are 403B's and 401K's treated differently than IRA's regarding the above question.

Here is an answer I found out from Fidelity. You as a beneficiary are allowed to "Disclaim all or part of your (IRA inherited) assets within 9 months of the IRA owner's death so they pass on to the next eligible beneficiaries." This is known as a qualified disclaimer. The beneficiary chain must be followed. You are not allowed to bypass it in favor of another primary or contingent, or to designate a non-beneficiary to receive the inherited IRA account or portion thereof. You can however take a distribution in your own name, pay the taxes on it, and gift it to anyone. Additional gift taxes may be payable if the amount exceeds some threshold.

[Snipes5]

I'm schizophrenic and so am I.