First, assets that are passed to someone else through a POD account are not subject to probate. The probate process, which is a legal process in which your assets are inventoried, debts are paid and remaining assets are distributed to your heirs, can be time-consuming and costly.
First and foremost, there are a number of asset types that typically do not pass through probate. This includes life insurance policies, bank accounts, and investment or retirement accounts that require you to name a beneficiary.
Some banks or building societies will allow the executors or administrators to access the account of someone who has died without a Grant of Probate.
You must simply complete a beneficiary designation form for the particular account and file it with the appropriate financial institution (life insurance company or employer), and your beneficiary will be able to avoid probate and automatically gain control when you die.
You could name the wrong beneficiary. You could fail to update a POD beneficiary who you wished to disinherit. You could leave too much money to one child who agrees to share it with their siblings but finds themselves confronted by unexpected estate or gift taxes.
If there's a will without a named executor, the court will issue a Letter of Testamentary; if there's no will, the court will issue a Letter of Administration. Present either of these letters to the bank along with the death certificate to close the account.
If you contact the bank before consulting an attorney, you risk account freezes, which could severely delay auto-payments and direct deposits and most importantly mortgage payments. You should call Social Security right away to tell them about the death of your loved one.
Conclusion. So, can a transfer on death account be contested? The short answer, as we've seen, is yes, it is possible. Though TOD and POD accounts are intended to simplify the transfer of assets, they are not immune to legal challenges.
In conclusion, it's a crime to use a dead relative's payment cards, even if they're no longer able to use them. Anyone convicted of using a card to make fraudulent purchases will face years of imprisonment for deceit, not to mention an identity theft offense will appear on their criminal record.
Establish a living trust: This is a common way for people with high-value estates to avoid probate. With a living trust, the person writing the trust decides which assets to put into the trust and who will act as trustee.
There are circumstances in which assets may be distributed early. This is generally due to the needs of the decedent's spouse and dependents. These family allowances are governed by the probate code and a personal representative should seek the advice of a probate attorney before making any distributions.
Designated beneficiaries receive the funds without having to wait for probate to conclude, which can take months. A POD or TOD account allows loved ones to get money almost immediately. Typically, all they need to provide is the death certificate and identification to the account-holding institution.
Bank account beneficiary rules usually allow payable-on-death beneficiaries to withdraw the entirety of a decedent's bank account immediately following their death, so long as they present the bank with the proper documentation to prove the account owner died and to confirm their own identity.
POD Accounts. Trusts and POD accounts each have advantages and disadvantages. Creating a trust is a more complex and costly process than setting up a POD account. You will need an attorney to help you create a trust, and many trusts need ongoing maintenance.
There is no federal tax for beneficiaries of POD accounts. There will be an inheritance tax, or death tax, depending on the state, that will need to be settled before any money can leave the account. If the deceased has any debt that has not been settled, the money in the account must go to paying that off first.
If there is only one POD account owner and the owner becomes mentally incapacitated, a valid power of attorney or court-supervised guardianship or conservatorship may be required to access the account if use of the money is required while the owner is still living.
Beneficiary Designation Takes Precedence Over A Will
If your heirs decide to fight the beneficiary designation in court, litigation can be expensive and take months.
It is illegal to withdraw money from an open account of someone who has died unless you are actually named on the account before you have informed the bank of the death and been granted an order of probate from a court of competent jurisdiction.
The deceased person is likely to have ongoing standing orders and direct debits, so it's best to notify these organisations of the death as soon as possible to avoid receiving letters demanding outstanding payments.
The bank account will be frozen until the probate process is complete. If the bank isn't informed of the owner's passing and the account goes dormant, the account may be subject to escheatment, which turns the funds over to the state government. Escheatment generally occurs after a few years of abandonment.
The SSA cannot pay benefits for the month of a recipient's death. That means if the person died in July, the check or direct deposit received in August (which is payment for July) must be returned. Find out how to return a check to the SSA.
Not all bank accounts are suitable for a Living Trust. If you need regular access to an account, you may want to keep it in your name rather than the name of your Trust. Or, you may have a low-value account that won't benefit from being put in a Trust.