My wife's uncle passed away and left her with three IRA's. She is 49, and will be 50 in January. I know we have three options: 1) take all the money now, 2) do a five year plan, or 3) do a stretch plan. My questions is, will she have to pay the 10% penalty for taking the money..

First of all, if the uncle was over 70½ when he died, you don't have the five year plan.

In any event, there is NO 10% penalty on an inherited IRA. You should opt for taking the minimum distribution based upon her life expectancy. You are NOT locked into taking only the minimum; you can TAKE MORE any time you want.

Be aware that banks/brokers do not always provide the correct advice.

Barry, What are the rules governing combining the 3 inherited IRAs? Can you combine them into one of them, or into a fourth account set up for that purpose?

John,

Accounts inherited from the same decedent can be combined with each other, but not with any other accounts, whether your own, or inherited from a different decedent.