Q: My mother passed away. She had a pay on death statement on one account from many years ago .
She listed my sister as the beneficiary on that account with a pay on death statement. She has had multiple accounts since, re married, and never listed a survivor, or a beneficiary on any of the other accounts. When my mother passed my sister took the old POD from the first account and cleared all accounts that my mother had with my step father, he passed also. The bank is saying the 10 year old POD on one account covers all new accounts. Nothing is listed on the new accounts? is this true?
A:
I am very sorry for your loss. It is possible that the Payable on Death (POD) designation that your mother signed with her bank could have covered all of her accounts with that bank. It just depends on the language in what she signed. There isn't any sort of time limit on a POD designation.
You could schedule a meeting with a bank manager and ask them to review the paperwork for your mother's accounts to confirm that the POD designation applied to all of her accounts.
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