To complete a Bank of America payable on death beneficiary designation, log in to online banking and open the “Your Beneficiary” self-service pages, or bring photo ID to any financial center. There is no paper form to download and no fee. You’ll need the beneficiary’s name, date of birth, country of citizenship, and either a Social Security number or a current mailing address.1Bank of America. Account Ownership Changes The designation transfers the account balance directly to the people you name when you die, skipping probate.
Information to Have Ready
Bank of America asks for four pieces of information about each beneficiary: full legal name, date of birth, country of citizenship, and a Social Security number or a current mailing address.1Bank of America. Account Ownership Changes The bank accepts an SSN or an address, so you don’t strictly need both. Supplying the SSN tends to make identity verification faster when the beneficiary eventually claims the funds.
A beneficiary doesn’t have to be a person. You can name a spouse, family member, friend, business, charity, estate, or trust, as long as the beneficiary isn’t already an owner or co-owner on the account. If the online system rejects your entry, that overlap is the first thing to check.2Bank of America. Beneficiaries FAQs
Adding the Beneficiary Online
Sign in to your Bank of America online banking account and go to the “Your Beneficiary” self-service pages.1Bank of America. Account Ownership Changes From there, you can add, remove, or update POD beneficiaries on eligible accounts. Only the account owner can make the change. A co-owner on a joint account cannot add a beneficiary on their own.
Adding the Beneficiary at a Branch
If you’d rather handle it in person, or if the online system keeps throwing errors, visit any Bank of America financial center. Bring a valid government-issued photo ID plus one of the following: your Bank of America debit card, a recent account statement, or a bank check. A representative will verify your identity and process the update. In-person visits are required for beneficiary changes on retirement accounts such as IRAs.1Bank of America. Account Ownership Changes
Which Accounts Are Eligible
You can add a POD beneficiary to checking accounts, savings accounts, certificates of deposit, investment accounts, and IRAs, provided the account is an individual, co-owned personal, or sole-proprietor small business account. Other business account types and Commercial Analyzed accounts are not eligible.2Bank of America. Beneficiaries FAQs
How Bank of America Splits the Money
Every named beneficiary gets an equal share. Name four people and each receives 25 percent of the balance.2Bank of America. Beneficiaries FAQs The standard POD designation does not allow custom percentages. If you want unequal shares, you’ll need to name a trust as the beneficiary and set the allocations there.
Bank of America’s POD setup also has no contingent beneficiary field. If the person you name dies before you and you don’t update the designation, their share falls back into your estate and passes through probate. Review your beneficiaries after any death, marriage, birth, or divorce in the family.
How Joint Accounts Interact With a POD Designation
On a joint account with right of survivorship, the surviving co-owner takes full control of the account when one owner dies. The POD beneficiary receives nothing until the last surviving owner dies.1Bank of America. Account Ownership Changes If you and your spouse hold a joint checking account and you name your adult child as the POD beneficiary, your spouse inherits the account when you die, and your child receives whatever is left only after your spouse also dies.
A POD designation on a multiple-party account without right of survivorship is generally ineffective. Check the account agreement or ask at a branch if you aren’t sure which type you have.
Naming a Minor or a Non-U.S. Citizen
A child under 18 cannot legally take control of account funds. Without a custodial arrangement already in place, a court may have to appoint a guardian to manage the inheritance, which is the kind of proceeding a POD designation is meant to avoid. If you want a minor to inherit, consider a custodial account under the Uniform Transfers to Minors Act (UTMA) or a trust, and name that as the beneficiary.
If the beneficiary is a nonresident alien without a Social Security number, the eventual distribution may carry a 30 percent withholding and be reported on IRS Form 1042-S rather than a 1099. Filing Form W-8BEN can reduce or eliminate that withholding when a tax treaty applies.
Changing or Removing the Designation Later
A POD designation is revocable during your lifetime. You can update or remove beneficiaries any time through the same online self-service pages or at a branch. Naming someone gives them no rights to the money while you’re alive; you remain the sole owner and can spend, withdraw, or close the account without their knowledge.
The POD designation also overrides your will. If your will leaves “all bank accounts to my sister” but your POD names your brother, the bank pays your brother.2Bank of America. Beneficiaries FAQs The will controls only assets that pass through your estate, and a POD account doesn’t. Update your beneficiary designations whenever you update your will.
Divorce is a separate trap. About half of U.S. states have “revocation upon divorce” statutes that automatically strip an ex-spouse’s beneficiary designation, but not every state covers POD accounts and the specifics vary. After a divorce, log in and explicitly remove or replace your former spouse rather than relying on state law.
What Your Beneficiary Will Do After You Die
Once the last account owner dies, the beneficiary provides Bank of America with a certified copy of the death certificate and a completed Letter of Instruction telling the bank how to disburse the funds. Documents can be uploaded through the Estate Services portal, mailed to Bank of America — Estate Servicing Operations, PO Box 31655, Tampa, FL 33631-1655, or delivered in person at a financial center. The bank allows up to ten business days for review after receipt.3Bank of America. Estate Services Client Resource Guide
Certified death certificates come from the funeral director or the vital records office in the state or county where the death occurred, and generally cost between $15 and $25 per copy. Order several; other institutions will ask for them too.
When a CD has a POD beneficiary, the funds typically transfer without the early withdrawal penalty that would otherwise apply to breaking the CD before maturity.2Bank of America. Beneficiaries FAQs
What a POD Designation Does Not Do
A POD designation avoids probate. It does not avoid estate tax. The full balance on the date of death is included in the deceased owner’s gross estate for federal estate tax purposes.4Internal Revenue Service. Estate Tax Most families won’t cross the federal threshold, but state estate or inheritance taxes may apply at lower amounts depending on where the account holder lived. The money itself is not taxable income to the beneficiary.
A POD account also doesn’t shield the money from the deceased owner’s creditors. If the estate owes debts, taxes, or administrative costs that exceed its other assets, creditors can pursue POD funds. The bank pays the beneficiary according to the designation, but the beneficiary can be liable to the estate or its creditors for what they received.