{"id":13943,"date":"2019-05-21T14:14:08","date_gmt":"2019-05-21T18:14:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/berwitz-ditata.com\/?page_id=13943"},"modified":"2019-05-21T14:14:08","modified_gmt":"2019-05-21T18:14:08","slug":"payable-death-pod-bank-accounts","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/berwitz-ditata.com\/articles-and-news-2\/payable-death-pod-bank-accounts\/","title":{"rendered":"Payable-On-Death (POD) Bank Accounts"},"content":{"rendered":"<style type=\"text\/css\"><\/style><p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>One commonly used method of transferring money to another person is to establish a payable-on-death bank account (\u201cPOD\u201d account). There should be no extra fees associated with opening such an account at a bank. A POD designation can be added to any new or existing account: checking, savings, money market or certificate of deposit (\u201cCD\u201d).<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>To open such an account, or add a \u201cbeneficiary\u201d on an existing account, simply notify the bank. No documents are filed with a court and you need not even notify the intended beneficiary. As long as you are alive, the beneficiary has no right to access the account and you can change the beneficiary at will. After your death, the beneficiary can obtain whatever money remains in the account by presenting proof of identity and a certified copy of your death certificate. Because the beneficiary has no right to the assets in the account until the depositor\u2019s death, the establishment of the account does not constitute a gift. Also, POD accounts may be entitled to additional coverage from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (\u201cFDIC\u201d). Each beneficiary\u2019s interest in the account is separately insured [See \u201cFDIC Update\u201d in this issue].<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Don\u2019t be fooled into thinking that a POD is not a part of your estate because it transfers to the beneficiary at your death. These accounts are absolutely part of the estate of the depositor and, if an estate tax return must be filed, they must be accounted for 100%.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Please note that a \u201ctransfer-on-death\u201d registration may now be utilized for securities (stocks, bonds and brokerage accounts). While similar to POD accounts the transfer-on-death designation is somewhat unique. Discussion of this type of account is outside the scope of this article.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>When you ask to open a POD account, the bank\u2019s representative may give you a form that authorizes the creation of a \u201cTotten Trust.\u201d No need to panic: the representative did not misunderstand you or give you the wrong form by accident. A POD account is often called a \u201ctotten trust\u201d account. This name comes from an old court case which was the first to recognize an account that designated a beneficiary, one who had no right to the account until the depositor died.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Before opening a POD account, be sure to give careful consideration to your selection of the beneficiary or beneficiaries. For instance, while one can name a minor child as a POD beneficiary, if he or she is still a minor at your death, a custodian will be appointed to manage and use the money for the benefit of the child until the child reaches the age of majority. If you name more than one beneficiary, each will inherit an equal share of the account unless you specify otherwise. If one of the beneficiaries dies before you do, the account will be divided among the <em>surviving<\/em> beneficiaries. This may not be what you intended. For all of these reasons, it is best to discuss the utilization of POD accounts with your estate planning counsel before taking this step. Berwitz &amp; DiTata LLP will be happy to answer your questions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; One commonly used method of transferring money to another person is to establish a payable-on-death bank account (\u201cPOD\u201d account). There should be no extra fees associated with opening such an account at a bank. A POD designation can be added to any new or existing account: checking, savings, money market or certificate of deposit&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"parent":12338,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-13943","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/berwitz-ditata.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/13943","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/berwitz-ditata.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/berwitz-ditata.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/berwitz-ditata.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/berwitz-ditata.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13943"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/berwitz-ditata.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/13943\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/berwitz-ditata.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/12338"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/berwitz-ditata.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13943"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}