POD Accounts and Its Associated Complexities

Brown v. Brown, 149 So. 3d 108 (2014) is a recent Florida case illustrating some of the complex issues surrounding status and treatment of a decedent’s bank accounts when administering estates. 

Here, the curator of decedent’s estate filed a complaint seeking declaratory judgment that certain pay-on-death (POD) and joint accounts were assets of the estate.  The Circuit Court adopted the magistrate’s report and recommendation that all funds be deposited into the estate account.  Co-owner beneficiary of the accounts subsequently appealed.

The District Court of Appeal affirmed in part and reversed in part; holding that the statute governing POD accounts, rather than the statute governing joint accounts, applied to the decedent’s POD accounts.  The court further stated that the curator overcame the statutory presumption regarding title to joint deposit accounts, and therefore transfer of funds to the estate was warranted. 

See Jonathan Galler, Pay-on-Death Accounts Not Part of Estate, Wealth Management, Apr. 2, 2015.

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