To add a beneficiary to a checking account, ask your bank for a payable-on-death (POD) form, fill in the person’s legal name, date of birth, Social Security number, and contact information, then sign and submit it either online or at a branch. Most banks offer the designation at no cost, and the setup usually takes only a few minutes.1Bank of America. Beneficiaries FAQs: Payable on Death (POD) Beneficiary Some banks label the same designation “transfer on death” (TOD), but the mechanics are identical.
What a POD Designation Actually Does
A POD designation is a contract between you and your bank naming one or more people to receive the account balance when you die.1Bank of America. Beneficiaries FAQs: Payable on Death (POD) Beneficiary Nothing changes while you are alive. You keep full ownership, spend and withdraw as you always have, and your named beneficiary has no legal claim to any of the money until after your death. At that point the funds pass directly to the person on the form and skip probate.
Because the designation is a direct contract with the bank, it generally overrides a conflicting instruction in your will. If your will leaves the checking account to your sister but the POD form names your brother, the bank pays your brother. Keep the two documents consistent.
Information to Gather First
Before you start the form, collect the following for each person you plan to name:
- Full legal name, as it appears on government-issued identification
- Date of birth
- Social Security number, used for tax reporting when the funds are later disbursed
- Current mailing address and phone number
If a beneficiary does not have a Social Security number, an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) may satisfy the tax reporting requirement, though bank policies vary.2Internal Revenue Service. Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) Call your bank before you fill anything out.
If you are naming more than one person, decide on the percentage each will receive. The shares must total exactly 100 percent. They do not have to be equal; 70/30 is fine, so is 50/30/20. A math error, a misspelled name, or a wrong Social Security digit can hold up processing or get the form rejected, so check the details twice.
Submitting the Form
Most banks let you submit the designation online or in person.
Online: log into your account, find the beneficiary or account settings section, and complete the digital form. The bank will likely ask for a multi-factor authentication step to confirm it is really you making the change.
In a branch: a representative hands you the form, you fill it out, and you sign. Some banks require a notary to witness the signature, and many provide notary services free at the branch.3Bank of America. Estate Services If notarization is required, schedule the appointment ahead so a notary is actually available, and do not sign the form before you arrive. Some documents must be signed in front of the notary to be valid.
After the bank processes the change, you should receive confirmation by mail or secure message. Save a copy of the signed form in your personal records. If the bank’s internal records are ever disputed later, that copy is your backup.
Primary and Contingent Beneficiaries
A primary beneficiary is first in line. A contingent beneficiary receives the funds only if the primary has already died or cannot be located. Many banks let you name both on the same form, though availability varies.
A contingent beneficiary is a safety net worth using. If your primary beneficiary dies before you do and you never update the form, the contingent keeps the account out of probate. Without one, the money falls back into your estate and goes through court anyway, which is the exact outcome the POD was meant to prevent.1Bank of America. Beneficiaries FAQs: Payable on Death (POD) Beneficiary
Naming a Child Under 18
You can list a minor as a POD beneficiary, but the bank will not hand money directly to a child. If you die while the beneficiary is still underage, a court-supervised guardianship or custodianship typically has to be set up before the funds can be managed on the child’s behalf. That involves filings and legal costs, which largely cancels out the probate-avoidance benefit of the POD in the first place.
Two cleaner alternatives: name an adult custodian for the child under your state’s Uniform Transfers to Minors Act (UTMA), or set up a simple trust and name the trust as the beneficiary. Either option gives an adult you choose authority to manage the money without court involvement. Under UTMA, the age at which the child gains full control depends on state law and ranges from 18 to 25.
Changing or Removing the Beneficiary Later
You can add, change, or remove a POD beneficiary at any time. The beneficiary does not need to be present, and their consent is not required.4Bank of America. Account Ownership Changes Submit a new form through the branch or online portal; the new form replaces the old one in full, so include every beneficiary you want to keep.
Marriage, divorce, a new child, and the death of a named beneficiary are the usual triggers for an update. Because the POD is separate from your will, updating one does not update the other. Review both together.
A power of attorney generally does not give your agent authority to change beneficiary designations unless the POA document specifically grants that power. If you lose capacity without that authority in place, the designations stay as they are until you recover or a court steps in.
Joint Accounts and Spousal Rights
On a joint checking account with right of survivorship, the surviving co-owner automatically becomes the sole owner when the first owner dies. A POD beneficiary on that account receives nothing at that point; survivorship comes first. The POD only takes effect after the last surviving owner dies, and in the meantime the survivor can spend the balance, change the POD, or close the account.
On a joint account without survivorship, adding a POD can create confusion about who has a claim. If you share an account that lacks survivorship rights, a separate account with its own POD is a cleaner solution.
Spousal rights add another layer. In community property states, a surviving spouse may have a legal claim to a share of account funds regardless of who is named on the POD. In most other states, a surviving spouse has an “elective share” of the deceased spouse’s estate, but whether that right reaches POD accounts depends on state law. Some states limit the elective share to probate assets and effectively exclude POD accounts; others apply it more broadly. If you plan to name someone other than your spouse on an account holding significant funds, talk to an estate planning attorney in your state before you file the form.
A Side Benefit: More FDIC Coverage
Naming beneficiaries can expand your FDIC insurance. A single-owner checking account without a beneficiary is insured up to $250,000. With a POD designation, coverage rises to $250,000 per named beneficiary, up to $1,250,000 for five or more.5FDIC. Your Insured Deposits The scale:
- 1 beneficiary: $250,000
- 2 beneficiaries: $500,000
- 3 beneficiaries: $750,000
- 4 beneficiaries: $1,000,000
- 5 or more beneficiaries: $1,250,000
Coverage applies per owner, per insured bank, across all trust-type accounts (POD included) at the same institution.5FDIC. Your Insured Deposits If you keep large balances at one bank, this is one of the simplest ways to raise your protection.
What a POD Does Not Do
Avoiding probate is not the same as avoiding debts. If the estate does not have enough other assets to cover what the owner owed, creditors may be able to reach money that passed through a POD account. State Medicaid programs may also seek to recover long-term care costs from POD funds after the owner’s death as part of estate recovery. The designation gets the money to your person faster and without court supervision; it does not erase obligations the owner left behind.