Also known as: POD clause · payable on death clause · POD · payable on death
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A designation of a beneficiary in an account payable on request to one or more parties during their lifetimes and on the death of the last surviving party to one or more beneficiaries. The designation may also take the form of an account titled in the name of one or more parties as trustee for one or more beneficiaries when the relationship arises solely from the account terms and the only trust property consists of the sums on deposit.
Alex Park titled his online bank account "Alex Park IT Solutions, Trustee for Jamie Park" and separately completed the bank's electronic POD form naming his girlfriend Morgan Lee. After Alex died, Jamie claimed the balance under the account title while Morgan claimed it under the form. The account qualified as a POD designation because it was payable during life to Alex and on his death to a named beneficiary, with no trust property beyond the deposit itself.
Karen Myers held a checking account, certificate of deposit, and annuity each carrying a POD designation naming her daughters. After Karen's death her surviving spouse Howard sought to include those assets in his elective share calculation. The court examined whether the POD designations brought the accounts within the statutory categories available for the elective share.
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A beneficiary named in a POD designation holds no right to the sums on deposit while any party remains alive. The beneficiary's interest arises only at the death of the last surviving party.
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Under the UPC a POD designation cannot be changed by will. The account contract controls the beneficiary designation and any attempt to revoke it by will is ineffective.
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Sums on deposit in a single-party account without a POD designation pass as part of the decedent's probate estate rather than by nonprobate transfer.
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An account titled in trustee form with no trust property other than the deposit itself is treated as a POD designation rather than a separate express trust with additional assets or fiduciary duties.
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