QUESTION
Are all beneficiaries of bank accounts payable on death, or must it be explicitly stated?
Asked on Nov 14th, 2012 on Estate Planning - Michigan
More details to this question:
I was under the impression that all beneficiaries to bank accounts are 'pay on death', but I keep reading about bank account beneficiaries as "POD beneficiaries" as if to differentiate them from non-POD accounts.
I realize all joint owners take precedence over any beneficiary; and that there are primary and secondary beneficiaries; and that there can be multiple beneficiaries and in various percentages.
9 ANSWERS
Probate Attorney serving Newport, OR
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Minor, Bandonis & Haggerty P.C.
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With respect to bank accounts, I've never seen contingent beneficiaries, although I suppose this is possible. The term is "payable on death" or, for securities, "transfer on death." It would be unnecessary to create a beneficiary for any condition other than the death of the account owner, since the account owner can always withdraw money and make gifts, if that's the intent.
Answered on Nov 16th, 2012 at 12:28 AM
You need to read the language of the bank very carefully. It will depend on how your account was set up and the bank's definitions.
Answered on Nov 15th, 2012 at 12:47 PM
Trusts Attorney serving Sacramento, CA
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Law Office of Victor Waid
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POD beneficiaries are either specified, and if not, then the estate probate will have to collect the funds and distribute them according to a will or administration of the estate.
Answered on Nov 15th, 2012 at 5:02 AM
Estate Planning Attorney serving Anaheim, CA
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Dwight Edward Tompkins
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Not all bank accounts are automatically POD. The account owner must affirmatively set the account up that way with the bank; and only the named beneficiary or beneficiaries are entitled to the account on the death of the owner.
Answered on Nov 15th, 2012 at 4:59 AM
3 Awards
A non-POD account has no beneficiary listed.
Answered on Nov 14th, 2012 at 4:44 PM
Usually, but not necessarily always payable on death. The account agreement (the document that governs the terms of the account as between the person who set the account up and the bank or other financial institution) needs to be checked to see whether the balance is payable on death of the original account holder, or only later, and perhaps only on certain terms and conditions. An account may be set up with no specification of what happens to the balance on the death of the account holder. In such situations, the balance in the account is most likely part of the person's estate, and will end up as directed by the deceased's last will and testament or if died without one, then per the state's intestacy laws, laws that direct to which family members, in what order of preference, the deceased's assets should go.
Answered on Nov 14th, 2012 at 4:39 PM
Thomas Edward Gates
The POD governs. There cannot not be beneficiaries unless one has passed away.
Answered on Nov 14th, 2012 at 4:36 PM
Probate Attorney serving Palatine, IL
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Law Offices of Robert H. Glorch
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I don't understand your question. The account might have a POD designation or it might not have a POD designation. It must be explicitly stated to have a POD designation. Otherwise, if there is no POD designation, and there is just one owner, the account would be part of the owner's estate.
Answered on Nov 14th, 2012 at 4:36 PM
Business Planning Attorney serving Livonia, MI
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Frederick & Frederick Attorneys at Law
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POD (payment on death) and TOD (transfer on death) are simply different ways of expressing that the account has beneficiaries. These would all normally pass automatically to the beneficiaries upon death.
Answered on Nov 14th, 2012 at 4:08 PM