119 | Are Your Bank Accounts Set Up Properly to Bypass Probate?

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Do you have the proper beneficiary designations setup on your bank accounts?  In this episode, I dive into the overlooked yet essential role of Payable on Death (POD) designations in estate planning.

Whether you have a will, trust, or both, your plan might still not include properly designated PODs on your bank accounts, CDs, and money market funds.

In this episode I discuss:

• What a POD (or TOD) designation actually does
• How PODs help your loved ones avoid probate delays
• The simple, free process to set them up through your bank
• Common mistakes—like assuming joint accounts are enough
• Why naming minors as POD beneficiaries isn't recommended

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Money doesn't have to feel overwhelming. Let's create a plan that feels nurturing and custom to you.

From my soul to yours,

Erin

Episode Transcript

Erin Gray (00:00):
Today on the podcast.
I'm talking about a simple,often overlooked tool that can
save your family from financialheadaches.
It's called POD, or payable ondeath, and if you've never added
a POD to your accounts or knowwhat I'm talking about, not sure
what it is this episode is foryou, girlfriend.
So I thought that I would havethis episode because it was two

(00:24):
clients in the same week that Iwas discussing this with them
and they were not aware of whatI was referring to.
So typically I take that as ahint sign of hey, I need to
probably talk about this on thepodcast to share it with more
people.
So I want to say, first andforemost, I'm not an attorney,
I'm not your financial planner,so always refer back to what

(00:47):
they are suggesting for you, andI will say I've had, like I
said, many clients that I'veworked with that have had
attorneys, and when I ask aboutthis designation, it is often
overlooked.
So let's talk about what a PODis.
What does it mean?
How does it pertain to you?
So most banks or brokeragehouses like think of Fidelity or

(01:14):
probably Vanguard they usewhat's called a POD.
Now, life insurance companiestypically will call it a
beneficiary designation.
Basically, it's the same thing,they're just calling it
something different.
So a POD allows someone toreceive the funds in your
account after you die withouthaving to go through probate.

(01:34):
You know most of my clients.
When they come to me they'vealready have a will or a trust
and that's already set up.
And if you don't, this mighteven be more important for you
to pay attention to, because Imean, even if you do have a will
or trust and it's notdesignated, still pay attention.
So it applies to typically likebank accounts.

(01:54):
When I say brokerage, I meanmoney market accounts, checking,
saving CDs, things like that.
It's a simple form that youfile with your bank that names a
beneficiary and typically theyhave a primary and a secondary
beneficiary.
Like I said, I'm not yourattorney, I'm not your financial
planner, but if you have a willor a trust set up, typically a

(02:16):
trust you want to, your attorneyshould be advising you or they
have advised you.
Maybe, maybe not, I'm not sure,depending on your state.
But you know, like mine is setup where it's my trust is my the
primary POD.
So it's just, if you don't havethat set up, you want to make
sure.
If you don't have a trust setup, then you want to make sure

(02:38):
you have somebody designated,because these are the types of
assets that will get hung up inprobate.
So why does this matter?
Because if you do have a willor trust, depending on the what
your attorney has set up for youand sometimes an attorney might
set up both for you because ofhow a trust works and then to
have poor overwill it's probablyanother topic, another podcast

(03:00):
episode but you definitely wantto make sure that you have this
set up so it follows the trustand if you have a will, you'll
want to make sure that itbypasses outside of the will,
because probate for some,depending on your States,
depending on your attorney, allof the things probate can take
months, sometimes years.
I have family members that were20 years in the making, probably

(03:23):
25 at this point, because thereare family members that are
fighting what the trust has said.
So, um, but if you don't havethis designated, this is going
to go to probate and it's goingto temporarily freeze this
access to the cash.

(03:44):
So whoever would beadministering your estate, they
would not have access to this.
So a lot of women think like awill is enough or your trust is,
you know, fine, but I I want tosay you know wills go through
probate.
That is one of the benefits ofa trust is it bypasses probate,

(04:07):
um and PODs.
If you have it on file, itbypasses all of that and it's
quick and it's easy and it'sfree to set up.
They might even call it a TOD,which is a transfer on death,
but I've seen most banks justcall it a POD.
So I want to talk about somecommon misconceptions.
You know, assuming that becauseyou have a joint account, that

(04:32):
that is the only way to ensureaccess.
That is not true.
Um.
Also forgetting to updatebeneficiaries after life events.
So if you were married and nowyou're not anymore, um, someone
has passed away, like reallymaking sure you just stay on top
of it and I always put you know.
I always tell my clients like Iwear my 3d financial planning

(04:54):
or hat when we're workingtogether, but I also wear my
like spiritual 5D hat, and whatI mean by that is I'm telling
you this information because wedo live on the material plane
and we do know the way that theworld works in the financial
planning and the estate planning.
And my 5D spiritual hat for youis coming from the energy that,
like I'm fine, nothing'shappening to me, but I also am

(05:18):
empowered and I'm also going totake care of my money and be a
good steward of my money, right?
So it's not coming from theplace of like, oh my gosh, we
have to fix this.
Oh my goodness, you knowsomething's going to happen.
From that fear-based place.
It's just like.
You know what.
I make sure all my accountshave the proper desert, you know
beneficiary designations and Itake care of my estate planning.
Also, too, is not aligning yourPODs with your overall estate

(05:43):
plan.
So if you have a trust and youdon't have the POD as the trust,
like I mentioned earlier, thentechnically it's not funded
correctly, and this is somethingthat I had a conversation with
a client the other day.
It's not funded correctly andthis is something that I had a
conversation with with a clientthe other day.
I said you know, a trust isamazing.
What is really important withthe trust is what is and this is

(06:04):
what your attorney should betalking to you about is that it
should actually be what theycall it.
I'm going to air quote funded,when a trust is funded, meaning
the assets are actually putinside the trust, which actually
means that you go to the youknow tax assessor and you put
your home in the trust, or youput you know, you make sure that

(06:24):
your beneficiary designationsfor your IRAs or your qualified
accounts have the trust as thebeneficiary.
That is what I mean when I sayis the trust funded?
Because just because you have atrust but you don't do anything
with the assets, the trustisn't funded properly.
So it's easy to set up.

(06:45):
If we're just talking about yourbank account checking savings
accounts, if you have any CDsmoney market account, you just
call your banker, go to the bankand ask for a PD, pod form, um,
and I will say this, that someof the banks, some of the
brokerage houses, may not knowwhat this is.

(07:07):
I know that when I switchedover to fidelity, I had to take
it up the ladder, the chain ofcommand, and tell them.
This is what I need, becausethe person that answered the
phone told me that that was notpossible.
I'm like, not true.
You need to go check your facts.
So just be persistent when itcomes to this that this does
exist.
Obviously, I'm not your attorneyand depending on what state you

(07:29):
live in, it may be calledsomething different.
So just be aware of that.
You want to reach out to yourstate attorney.
You want to make sure you'redoing this the correct way.
But I'm just telling you this,having this episode for you,
because clearly there's twoclients of mine that experienced
this.
There's more women out there,I'm sure, that are unaware, and
I want to empower you and totalk to you about this.

(07:49):
So you set it up based on,either, if you don't have a will
or trust, who would be yourbeneficiary Also not an attorney
, but I would highly recommendnot making any children who are
under the age of 18, yourbeneficiary check with your
attorney on that as well butjust really deciding who are
going to be my, my,beneficiaries.

(08:11):
You're going to need their fulllegal name, social security
number, probably keep thedocumentation safe and up to
date and also, like, if you havean executor or a trustee, that
they know where these accountsare and you know the POD on them
.
Okay.
So let's talk about okay, weknow that this is necessary, but

(08:36):
if we are not taking action, Iwant to address that as well.
So procrastination around thismight bring up.
Maybe we have some fear ofdeath, maybe we have avoidance,
maybe we this might show up as afreeze response.

(08:57):
So what I want you to do is,first and foremost, if you're
experiencing resistance, when Isay this, I want you to tap into
your body, I want you to getcurious.
This is an opportunity for youto lean in and for you to learn
more about yourself.
Really hone in on what is youknow, what are you thinking,

(09:17):
feeling, believing right now?
That's causing the resistance,and taking small action is a
powerful way for, or to createthis self-regulation, right?
Maybe you just put it on thecalendar where you actually just
look at your bank accounts andsee if they have a POD.
That's where you start.

(09:37):
Maybe the next week you lookand you see okay, I don't have
them set up.
What would I need to do?
Maybe I need to contact myattorney.
So just notice what are youfeeling in your body as I'm
talking about this.
Are you feeling overwhelmed?
Are you feeling resistance?
Are you feeling like you knowoh my gosh, I don't know.
Like, just notice what the bodyis doing and allow this as an

(10:01):
opportunity for you to connectto yourself even deeper.
You know, you do not have totackle everything today.
Fix everything today.
Like I always say zero to 1%,it's everything.
Start where you are, just getsome facts, get some information
and then go from there.

(10:22):
I just wanted to have an episodeabout this because there are
many of you that tune in everyweek and I wanted to spread the
word and share that.
If this is something that isyou know, I am seeing in in my
clients it's probably happeninga lot outside of them as well.

(10:42):
You know so in the collectiveconsciousness.
So I just want to encourage youto.
This is another way to you canfeel empowered.
You can choose to feelempowered about this.
You have this knowledge.
Now go do some research on youraccounts, see what they say, and

(11:02):
it's been my experience that itactually says that on the
statement.
So if it doesn't say it on thestatement, I would call my bank
and I would ask if it actuallyis existing on your account at
all.
That's all I have for you.
If this is something that isbringing up some internal
dialogue and you want somesupport, not just to walk

(11:24):
through this, but noticing yourrelationship with money, how
you're feeling in your body, sothat you can feel more safe and
confident with money, moreempowered I would money more
empowered.
I would love to support you.
You can head over to the linkin my show notes and click on
the link to schedule a claritysession, and we can really just
get to know one another, diveinto what it is that you're

(11:46):
working on, how I can help you.
Or you can head over to mywebsite generatealifewelllivecom
and schedule a call.
Okay, that's all I've got foryou.
I'll see you next time.