Payable on Death (POD)
A payable on death (POD) designation is an instruction on a bank or credit union account that names a beneficiary to receive the account balance directly upon the account holder's death, without going through the probate process.
POD designations are among the simplest and most accessible probate-avoidance tools available. Any bank customer can add a POD beneficiary to a checking, savings, money market, or certificate of deposit account simply by completing a form at their financial institution. No attorney is required, no court involvement occurs, and no trust structure is needed. Upon the account holder's death, the named beneficiary presents a death certificate to the bank and receives the funds directly.
The legal framework for POD accounts exists in all fifty states, though terminology varies. Some states refer to these accounts as Totten trusts, a name from an early 20th-century court case that established the legal validity of this type of informal beneficiary arrangement. Others use the term in trust for (ITF) account to describe the same structure.
POD designations override a will. If a will leaves all assets to a surviving spouse but a savings account carries a POD designation naming an adult child, the child receives that account regardless of what the will says. This is why coordinating beneficiary designations with the overall estate plan — and reviewing them after every major life change — is critical.
POD is the bank account equivalent of the transfer-on-death (TOD) designation used for brokerage and investment accounts, and the beneficiary designation used for retirement accounts and life insurance. Together, these mechanisms allow the majority of a person's financial assets to transfer quickly and without probate, provided the designations are kept current and consistent with the broader estate plan.