FDIC-Insured Accounts

Estate planning does not only include making a will or setting up a trust.  An FDIC-insured bank account is one way that you can preserve assets to pass them on to your heirs.

For each account that an individual has at an insured institution, the FDIC provides $250,000 of insurance.  You can use an FDIC-insured deposit account to set up pay on death accounts, which avoid probate, and transfer assets directly to a beneficiary.  You can use the online tool, the electronic deposit insurance estimator (EDIE), to calculate the amount of your insurance coverage for the different accounts offered by an FDIC insured bank.  By ensuring that your money is in an FDIC-insured account, you ensure that your money is safe.  

See William Martin, Law of the Land: Using Your Bank Account as an Estate Planning Tool, The Destinlog.com, July 2, 2012.

Special thanks to Jim Hillhouse (Professional Legal Marketing (PLM, Inc.)) for bringing this article to my attention.