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TOD or POD

In the context of bank accounts and who their beneficiaries are, TOD means transfer-on-death, and POD means payable-on-death. These types of designations can play an important role in your estate planning by enabling banks to transfer funds directly to your heirs without the need for probate. 

This has a broader ramification than you may imagine. While your executor will be able to report the death, companies won’t share bank account balances or make any transactions unless the executor has testamentary letters, which is the legal proof they have authority to act on behalf of the estate. So, until your executor probates the will and obtains letters testamentary, they will have to pay the estate’s bills with their own funds.

Those bills can be as mundane as utilities, telephone or cable bills, which usually accrue late fees if not paid timely. Fixed Index Annuities, meanwhile, identify beneficiaries in a different manner. Call us if you’d like to update any of the beneficiary information on any products you’ve purchased through us. We’re always here to help.

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