Bank of America Payable on Death (POD) Account

What a Bank of America POD Account Is

The Deposit Agreement lets you make an individual or joint account payable on death, and says the account stays yours while you live.

“You may choose to make your individual or joint account payable on your death (“POD”) to one or more beneficiaries. You must instruct us to list each POD beneficiary on the account, subject to our set off rights (described in the Right of Set Off section of this Agreement) and applicable law. You are solely responsible for completing all applicable state law requirements to create a POD account. If you do not meet these requirements, we may treat your account as though there is no POD beneficiary.”

Bank of America Deposit Agreement and Disclosures (effective May 15, 2026), PDF p. 5

“When the title of an account includes language like "in trust for (ITF)," "transfer on death (TOD)" or similar language, the account is treated as a POD account.”

Bank of America Account Changes page

How to Add or Change a Beneficiary

Online through the bank’s beneficiary self-service pages, or at a financial center.

“Name and country of citizenship, date of birth, and either (a) Social Security number or (b) current address.”

Bank of America Account Changes page (information needed for each beneficiary)

“You may change, add or remove the name of any payee or beneficiary anytime by visiting a financial center and providing us with proper written notice.”

Bank of America Account Changes page

“We may require you to close the account in order to remove a co-owner, terminate a joint ownership or change a payable on death or trust designation.”

Bank of America Deposit Agreement, PDF p. 4

The bank’s estate pages call the branch form a Beneficiary Addendum. A customer far from a branch can call 800-432-1000 for how to make the change. Because the bank may require a new account to change a designation, get the beneficiaries right when you open it.

Who Inherits, and When a Beneficiary Dies First

Only a beneficiary who is alive at your death takes, and surviving beneficiaries share equally.

“A POD beneficiary does not acquire an interest in the account until after the death of the account owner or the last co-owner, and the POD beneficiary must be alive to have an interest. Whether a POD beneficiary survives the account owner(s) may be subject to and determined by state law.”

Bank of America Deposit Agreement, PDF p. 5

“We may distribute the account balance, subject to any bank claims, to one or all surviving beneficiaries jointly, or payable individually, in equal shares, to each surviving beneficiary.”

Bank of America Deposit Agreement, PDF p. 5

A child who dies before you drops out, and that child’s children receive nothing from the account. Bank of America does not publish whether unequal shares are allowed or whether a trust can be named, so ask when you add beneficiaries.

How a Beneficiary Collects

The beneficiary sends a death certificate and a notarized letter of instruction, and the bank asks for ten business days to review them.

“When the account owner passes away, the funds in the account pass to the beneficiary(ies) after we receive the Death Certificate and Letter of Instruction form.”

Bank of America Estate Services Client Resource Guide, p. 6

“The beneficiary or beneficiaries must provide notarized letters of instruction in addition to the death certificate.”

Bank of America estate FAQ (BA2959), p. 3

“Once we receive your documents, please allow ten business days for us to review them and we’ll let you know if anything else is needed.”

Bank of America Estate Services Client Resource Guide, p. 5

The estate services team is at 888-689-4466, and documents can be uploaded online, faxed or brought to a financial center. The bank says notary services are available at no cost in many of its financial centers, which covers the notarized letter.

Your Will and Your Power of Attorney

The account title can override your will, and a power of attorney ends when you die.

“The type of account ownership may determine how your funds are paid if you die, even if your will states otherwise. Please consult your estate planning advisor or attorney about your choices.”

Bank of America Deposit Agreement, PDF p. 4

“An agent’s power of attorney on an account is terminated when the account owner dies.”

Bank of America Deposit Agreement, PDF p. 26

What Bank of America Does Not Publish

Bank of America’s published documents do not say whether a trust, a charity or a minor can be named, whether unequal shares or more than a set number of beneficiaries are allowed, what happens when no beneficiary survives, or whether every joint owner must approve a beneficiary change. Ask those questions when you add a beneficiary, and ask for a printout of the designation once it is on file, so you can see exactly what the bank recorded.

What Florida Law Adds

Bank of America’s agreement says whether a POD beneficiary survives may be determined by state law. For a Florida account, Florida’s statute answers the questions the bank leaves open. Florida’s payable-on-death statute covers checking accounts, savings accounts and certificates of deposit, and it answers several questions the bank leaves open.

• A POD beneficiary has no right to the money while any owner is alive.
• When the last owner dies, the money belongs to the surviving beneficiaries, and if two or more survive they take equal and undivided shares.
• If no beneficiary survives, the money belongs to the estate of the last surviving owner, which usually means probate.
• A POD designation on a joint account held as tenants in common, without a right of survivorship, has no effect.

Divorce and a POD Beneficiary

Florida law voids a designation of a former spouse made before the divorce, and it expressly covers a payable-on-death account of a Florida resident. It does not apply if the account agreement is governed by another state’s law. Neither bank’s published documents say that a divorce removes a former spouse, so the safe step after a divorce is a new designation, whatever the statute might do.

How Much the FDIC Insures

The FDIC insures POD accounts as trust accounts, at $250,000 for each beneficiary the owner names, counting at most five, so up to $1,250,000 per owner at one bank. POD accounts and revocable trust accounts at the same bank are added together toward the limit, and a beneficiary who takes only if someone else has died does not count.

A POD Account or a Trust?

A POD designation costs nothing and keeps the account out of probate. It has two limits. It does nothing while you are alive, so if you become unable to manage the account, the beneficiary has no authority over it. And it pays each beneficiary outright, whatever their age, and drops a beneficiary who dies first. An account owned by your revocable living trust can be managed by your successor trustee during an incapacity and can hold a share for a child until an age you choose. See how to open a trust account.

Related Guides

• Chase Payable on Death (POD) Account: How It Works
• Payable on death and TOD accounts in Florida
• POD rules at 144 banks and credit unions, quoted
• Bank of America trust account rules
• What is a TOD account

Frequently Asked Questions

Common Situations

The beneficiary change that needed a new account. A widow wants to add her grandson as a second POD beneficiary on her Bank of America savings account. The Deposit Agreement lets the bank require her to close the account to change a payable-on-death designation, so she asks whether the change can be made online through the beneficiary pages before assuming she needs a new account.

The son who died first. A father names his two sons as POD beneficiaries. One son dies before him. The agreement pays only surviving beneficiaries, so the whole balance goes to the other son, and the late son’s children receive nothing from the account.

Sources of Law

• Bank of America Deposit Agreement and Disclosures, effective May 15, 2026, PDF pp. 4, 5, 24, 25, 26 (https://www.bankofamerica.com/salesservices/deposits/resources/deposit-agreements/).
• Bank of America Account Changes page (https://www.bankofamerica.com/signature-services/account-ownership-changes/).
• Bank of America Estate Services page (https://www.bankofamerica.com/signature-services/estate-services/).
• Bank of America Estate Services Client Resource Guide, pp. 5, 6 (https://images.em.bankofamerica.com/estateservices/Estate_Services_Resource_Guide.pdf).
• Bank of America estate FAQ, BA2959, p. 3 (https://www.bankofamerica.com/content/documents/BA2959_Empathy_FAQ_v13.pdf).
• Fla. Stat. §655.82(1)(a) (accounts include checking, savings and certificates of deposit), (2) (no beneficiary right during a party’s lifetime), (3)(b) (surviving beneficiaries take in equal and undivided shares; the estate of the last surviving party if none survives), (4) (a pay-on-death designation in a multiple-party account without right of survivorship is ineffective).
• Fla. Stat. §732.703(2), (3)(d) and (4)(g) (divorce voids a pre-divorce designation of a former spouse on a pay-on-death account of a Florida resident, except where the governing instrument is governed by another state’s law).
• 12 C.F.R. §330.10 (FDIC coverage of informal revocable trust accounts, including payable-on-death accounts).
• Bank documents retrieved September 24 and 25, 2026, and read again for this page on September 28, 2026. Banks change their terms; confirm the current version with the bank.

Updated on September 28, 2026. Reviewed by Kevin D. Klagge, Esq., Fla. Bar No. 99502. Attorney Kevin Klagge represents families, businesses, and international clients in estate and tax planning, business structuring, and international law, with a focus on Florida legal tools. He litigates estate and business issues in court. StepUpLaw is not affiliated with Bank of America, N.A., and the quotations are from the bank’s own published documents. General information about Florida law, not legal advice, and no attorney-client relationship is created. Do not send confidential information until we have agreed to represent you.