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Why can’t I add my trust as beneficiary of my joint checking account?

Brought to you by

- Michelle Wilson, Attorney, Wilson Legal

Recently a couple asked Bank of America to add their trust as the beneficiary or Pay-On-Death (POD)

Payee of their joint checking account at the bank. They were denied. Bank of America is not the first bank to do this. It seems several banks believe that a POD Payee can only be added to a checking account after a joint owner dies. What if both owners die together such as in a car accident? Now we have a checking account with no living beneficiary requiring an executor to be approved after paying for and going through the probate process – a process which we are trying to avoid by creating a revocable trust for the couple in the first place. Our Georgia Code states in O.C.G.A. Section 7-1-812(b) that a POD account belongs to the original payees (whether there are 1 or more)) during their lifetimes. This means that our code anticipates the probability that more than one person may own a checking account jointly or together with equal rights to access the money and that they can have a beneficiary (such as their trust) named as the POD payee on the account. Later in Section 7/1/818 our Georgia Code states that a POD payee may receive payment upon proof that all the original payees have died.

So why is Bank of America stopping my clients from protecting themselves from probate by naming their trust as the POD payee or beneficiary on their joint checking account? I called to find out, but they wouldn’t answer their phone. I’ll be stopping in for a chat next week. Stay tuned for the answer.

If you have questions about whether your trust is named as POD payee or beneficiary correctly on your accounts, call for one of our paid strategy sessions and bring your statements and any other printout that shows who your beneficiaries are. A law firm, like Wilson Legal, can help you make sure you are getting all the advantages of your trust.