Chase Payable on Death (POD) Account

What a Chase POD Account Is

Chase’s agreement defines a POD account and says only a surviving beneficiary is paid.

“If you establish your account payable on death to one or more beneficiaries, the account is a “POD” account. If we receive proof you’ve died, we may pay the balance of the account to the surviving beneficiary or beneficiaries you designated.”

Chase Deposit Account Agreement (effective 6/14/2026), p. 6

“We do not offer POD accounts in all states.”

Chase Deposit Account Agreement, p. 6

Chase also recognizes accounts opened “in trust for” someone without formal trust documents, and treats them the same way, paying the surviving beneficiaries at your death.

Equal Shares Unless Chase’s Records Say Otherwise

Several beneficiaries split the account equally by default.

“Multiple beneficiaries will be paid in equal shares unless our records provide otherwise.”

Chase Deposit Account Agreement, p. 6

Chase does not publish whether you can set unequal percentages, or how many beneficiaries you can name. Ask at the branch, and ask to see what the signature card and Chase’s system show, because Chase says it relies on those records.

Joint Accounts With a POD

On a joint account, the POD waits until the last owner dies.

“If a joint account also contains a “payable on death” or “in trust for” designation, the account always includes a right of survivorship and is payable to the beneficiary only upon the death of the last surviving owner, except as stated in the paragraph below.”

Chase Deposit Account Agreement, p. 6

“A Florida joint account owned solely by two spouses is a “tenants by the entirety” account unless the signature card indicates otherwise.”

Chase Deposit Account Agreement, p. 6

Your Will and Your Power of Attorney

Chase warns in capital letters that the account title can override your will, and an agent’s authority ends at death.

“THE TYPE OF ACCOUNT OWNERSHIP MAY DETERMINE HOW YOUR FUNDS ARE PAID UPON YOUR DEATH, EVEN IF YOUR WILL STATES OTHERWISE. PLEASE CONSULT YOUR ESTATE PLANNING ADVISOR OR ATTORNEY ABOUT YOUR CHOICES.”

Chase Deposit Account Agreement, p. 5

“We may also refuse an agent’s request to become a joint owner or a beneficiary of an account, but we have no liability to anyone if we do so.”

Chase Deposit Account Agreement, p. 6

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

Chase Deposit Account Agreement, p. 6

What Happens When You Die

Chase may freeze the account until it has the documents it asks for, and it keeps the right to collect what you owe it first.

“After we receive notice of death or incompetence, we may freeze your balance, refuse to accept transactions, and reverse or return deposits. We are also not required to release your funds until we receive any documents we reasonably request to verify your death or incompetence, as well as who is entitled to the funds.”

Chase Deposit Account Agreement, p. 26

“We have these rights even if a surviving joint owner, a “payable on death” payee, or a beneficiary of an “in trust for” or “trustee for” account has rights to the account.”

Chase Deposit Account Agreement, p. 26 (set-off)

A beneficiary should call Chase’s main line, 1-800-935-9935, and bring a certified death certificate and identification. Chase’s agreement does not list the documents, so ask what else it needs before the visit.

What Chase Does Not Publish

Chase’s published documents do not say how to add or change a POD beneficiary, online or at a branch, and whether every joint owner must sign, the name or number of any Chase POD form, whether a trust, a charity, a minor or a person outside the United States can be named, what happens when no beneficiary survives, or the documents a beneficiary needs to collect. 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

Chase’s agreement says an account is governed by the law of the state where it is located, and an account opened in person is located in the state where you applied. For an account opened at a Florida branch, that is Florida law. 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

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

Frequently Asked Questions

Common Situations

The will that left the account to someone else. A father’s will divides everything equally among his three children, but his Chase savings account names only his daughter as POD beneficiary. Chase’s agreement warns that the type of ownership can decide who is paid even if the will says otherwise, so the account goes to his daughter alone and his sons share only what passes through the will.

The joint account with the children named. A couple holds a joint Chase account with their two sons named as POD beneficiaries. When the husband dies, the account passes to his wife as surviving owner, and the sons take nothing until she also dies. That is the order Chase’s agreement sets for a joint account with a POD designation.

Sources of Law

• Chase Deposit Account Agreement and Privacy Notice, effective 6/14/2026, pp. 5, 6, 22, 24, 25, 26 (https://www.chase.com/content/dam/chase-ux/documents/personal/checking/deposit-account-agreement.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 JPMorgan Chase Bank, 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.