Also known as: POD beneficiaries · payable on death beneficiary · payable-on-death beneficiary · POD · payable on death
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A person named to receive the sums on deposit in an account upon the death of the account owner. The designation permits payment directly to the named beneficiary without probate administration of the account balance.
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Patricia Patel opened a checking account at a local bank and completed the form naming Preston Pratt as her POD beneficiary. Patricia retained full control over the funds during her lifetime and made regular withdrawals. Upon Patricia's death the bank paid the remaining balance directly to Preston without requiring probate proceedings.
Karen Myers held a checking account, certificate of deposit, and annuity each designating her daughters as POD beneficiaries. After Karen's death her surviving spouse Howard asserted an elective share claim that sought to include the POD accounts in the augmented estate. The probate court ruled that the POD assets were reachable by the elective share.
No. The beneficiary holds no interest in the account during the owner's lifetime and cannot compel payment or prevent withdrawals by the owner.
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Under the Uniform Probate Code a divorce revokes any revocable disposition to a former spouse in a governing instrument, including a POD designation, unless the decree or another agreement expressly preserves the designation.
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No. The terms of the account control, and a will cannot alter a POD beneficiary designation even if the will purports to do so.
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…retirement account; and property acquired by right of survivorship, by a trust distribution, by bequest or inheritance or by a payable on death or a transfer on death arrangement under ch. 705. 3. With funds acquired in a manner provided in subd. 1. or 2. Wis. Stat. § 767.61(2)(a). If excluding this property "will create a…