How to Complete a Chase Bank Beneficiary Form: POD, TOD, and IRA

A Chase bank beneficiary form is the document you use to name who receives an account after your death, and Chase uses three different ones depending on the account. Checking and savings accounts use a Payable on Death (POD) designation handled in a branch. Non-retirement brokerage accounts at J.P. Morgan Securities use a Transfer on Death (TOD) agreement you can complete online, in the mobile app, or on paper. IRAs use a separate IRA Beneficiary Update Request. All three let the money pass directly to the people or entities you name without going through probate.¹

Which Form You Need

Match the form to the account before you do anything else:

Checking or savings: POD designation, added in a Chase branch.
Non-retirement brokerage account at J.P. Morgan Securities: Transfer on Death Agreement, online or by mail.
IRA at J.P. Morgan Securities: IRA Beneficiary Update Request.

Each form stands on its own. Naming someone on your checking account does nothing for your brokerage account, and vice versa.

POD Beneficiaries for Checking and Savings

For deposit accounts, Chase requires an in-person branch visit. There is no online or app option.¹ Bring a valid government-issued photo ID and the full legal name of each person you want to name. The banker updates the designation in Chase’s deposit system and on the account’s signature card.

Chase’s Deposit Account Agreement governs the rest. If you name more than one beneficiary, the bank pays them in equal shares unless its records say otherwise, so if you want an unequal split (say, 60/40 between two children) you have to say so during the branch visit.² POD accounts are not available in every state; confirm with the banker if you have any doubt.

On a joint account with a POD designation, the right of survivorship between co-owners comes first. The named beneficiary receives the funds only after the last surviving owner dies.²

TOD Beneficiaries for Brokerage Accounts

For non-retirement brokerage accounts at J.P. Morgan Securities, you have three routes.

Online at chase.com: open your Accounts page, click Profile & Settings in the upper right, select Beneficiaries under Investments, pick the account, and choose edit.

In the Chase Mobile app: open your profile, tap Settings, select Beneficiaries under Investments, pick the account, and tap edit.³

By paper, download the Transfer on Death Agreement from the Chase brokerage forms page.⁴ Complete it, sign it, and either upload it through your online account or mail it to:

J.P. Morgan Securities LLC
Attn: Account Processing
Mail Code: IL1-0291
10 South Dearborn St.
Chicago, IL 60603-5506⁵

The designation is not effective until J.P. Morgan Securities receives and accepts the form.⁵ Once it processes, Chase sends a confirmation to the primary email on file and follows up with an annual reminder to review your beneficiaries.⁶

IRA Beneficiary Updates

IRAs use the IRA Beneficiary Update Request, a separate form from the brokerage TOD agreement. The share percentages within each tier (primary and contingent) have to total exactly 100%. If a percentage is blank or the numbers don’t add up, J.P. Morgan Securities will reject the form and you will have to resubmit.⁷

One default rule matters: if a primary or contingent beneficiary dies before you and you have not designated otherwise, that person’s share is divided equally among the surviving beneficiaries in the same tier.⁷ That is different from the deposit-account rule, where the bank may require estate documents for a share that cannot be distributed.

Information to Have Ready for Each Beneficiary

Whichever form you use, expect to provide the following for every person you name:

Full legal name (not a nickname).
Date of birth.
Social Security number, or tax ID for an entity.
Current mailing address.
Relationship to you.

The TOD agreement also asks for the beneficiary type: individual, trust, charity, or estate. A wrong digit in a Social Security number is one of the most common reasons back-office teams reject these forms, so verify every entry before you sign.

Primary vs. Contingent, and Share Percentages

Every Chase beneficiary form separates two tiers. Primary beneficiaries are first in line when you die. Contingent beneficiaries inherit only if no primary beneficiary is still living.⁸

On brokerage TOD and IRA forms, the percentages within each tier must total exactly 100%, and you cannot use more than two decimal places.⁵ On a J.P. Morgan Funds account, leaving percentages off produces an equal split by default.⁸ On a deposit account, the same equal-share default applies unless you tell the banker otherwise.²

Naming contingent beneficiaries is worth the extra line. If your only primary beneficiary dies before you and no contingent is listed, that share may revert to your estate and go through probate, which defeats the point of the form.

Naming a Trust, Charity, or Minor

You are not limited to individuals. Chase allows trusts, charities, schools, and other organizations as beneficiaries.⁹

For a trust, you need the full legal name of the trust exactly as it appears in the trust document, the date the trust was established, the trustee’s name, and the trust’s tax ID. Avoid informal shorthand like “my family trust” and use the precise legal title.

For a charity or nonprofit, provide the organization’s full legal name, its federal tax ID (EIN), and its address. Call the organization first to confirm the exact legal name it uses for bequests, since marketing names sometimes differ from registered legal names.

Minors create a practical problem. Banks generally will not pay account funds directly to someone under 18. The money may need to sit in a custodial account under the Uniform Transfers to Minors Act until the child reaches the age set by state law, typically between 18 and 25. If you want a child to inherit, a trust for the child’s benefit is often cleaner; at a minimum, ask your banker how Chase handles minor beneficiaries before you submit the form.

The J.P. Morgan Funds TOD form accepts only simple beneficiary designations. Conditional payouts, staggered distributions, and similar instructions have to go in a will or trust drafted by an attorney.⁸

Changing or Replacing a Designation

To change beneficiaries, you submit a brand-new designation rather than amending the old one. The most recently accepted form supersedes every prior version.⁵ Previous beneficiaries lose their claim entirely, and Chase does not need their consent or have to notify them.

For brokerage accounts, the same Profile & Settings path handles updates.³ For deposit accounts, you need another branch visit. If the registration on a brokerage account changes (for example, you add a co-owner), you also need to resubmit the TOD form.⁵

A will does not override a beneficiary designation on a Chase account. The designation is a contract between you and the bank, and it controls regardless of what your will says. Divorce, a new child, remarriage, and the death of a named beneficiary are all reasons to pull the form back up. If a named beneficiary has died and you have not updated the form, Chase falls back on its default rules, which may not match what you want.

What Happens When Beneficiaries Claim the Money

After the account holder dies, a named beneficiary contacts Chase to start the claims process. You can report a death at a branch, by calling the Estate Services line at 1-866-926-6909 (Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. ET), or through the Estate Services page on Chase’s website.¹ The beneficiary provides a certified copy of the death certificate. Chase then verifies the beneficiary’s identity against the signature card and its deposit system before releasing the funds.²

For deposits that land in the account after the owner’s death, Chase may require estate documents before distributing those funds.² That is a narrow exception; the balance at the time of death still goes to the named beneficiaries without probate.

FDIC Coverage With a POD Designation

A POD designation also expands FDIC insurance on a deposit account. The FDIC insures trust and POD accounts at $250,000 per owner per unique beneficiary, up to $1,250,000 if you name five or more beneficiaries.¹⁰ The ladder:

1 beneficiary: $250,000.
2 beneficiaries: $500,000.
3 beneficiaries: $750,000.
4 beneficiaries: $1,000,000.
5 or more beneficiaries: $1,250,000.¹⁰

The coverage applies regardless of the percentage assigned to each beneficiary. If you keep a large balance at Chase, filing a POD form is one of the simplest ways to stay fully insured without opening accounts at other banks.

1
Chase. Beneficiary Frequently Asked Questions
2
JPMorgan Chase Bank. Deposit Account Agreement
3
Chase. Online Investment Accounts Maintenance FAQs
4
Chase. Brokerage Forms
5
J.P. Morgan Securities. Transfer on Death Agreement
6
Chase. How to Designate or Update Beneficiary
7
J.P. Morgan Securities LLC. IRA Beneficiary Update Request
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J.P. Morgan Asset Management. J.P. Morgan Funds Transfer on Death Beneficiary Designation Form
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Chase. What Is a Beneficiary and How to Add One to Your Account
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FDIC. Your Insured Deposits