Payable on Death
Also called: POD, transfer on death, TOD, beneficiary designation
Updated June 7, 2026
How it works
The account holder adds a POD beneficiary by completing a simple form with their bank. The beneficiary has no rights to the account during the holder's lifetime — the holder can spend, close, or change the account freely. At death, the beneficiary presents a death certificate to the institution and the funds transfer directly, typically within days.
The override problem
A POD designation overrides whatever a will says about that account. This is powerful but also a common source of unintended outcomes — an ex-spouse or a deceased parent listed as POD beneficiary on a forgotten account will receive those funds regardless of what the will instructs. Reviewing and updating beneficiary designations after major life events is as important as reviewing the will itself.
Related terms
- Beneficiary — A beneficiary is a person or organization designated to receive an asset or benefit from a will, trust, life insurance policy, retirement account, or other arrangement. Being named a beneficiary gives someone a legal right to receive that specific asset — often outside of probate — when the owner passes.
- Residuary Estate — The residuary estate is everything that remains in a deceased person's estate after all specific bequests have been made, debts and taxes have been paid, and costs of administration have been settled. The will's residuary clause names who receives this remainder — often the bulk of the estate.
- Probate — Probate is the court-supervised process of proving a will is valid, settling the deceased's debts and taxes, and distributing what remains to the people entitled to it. It applies whether or not there is a will, and it is overseen by a probate court in the county where the person lived.
- Living Trust — A living trust is a legal arrangement created during a person's lifetime in which they transfer ownership of their assets to the trust — typically naming themselves as the initial trustee — to be managed for their benefit while alive and distributed to named beneficiaries when they die, all without going through probate. Because the trust, not the individual, holds the assets, those assets pass directly to beneficiaries outside of the probate process.
Legatus Vault keeps your wills, trusts, and estate documents in one secure place and releases them — only when the time comes, and only after careful verification — to the people you choose.