Payable-on-Death Deposit-Account Beneficiary Rules in Arizona
At a glance
| Accounts covered | Checking, savings, CDs and share deposits at listed financial institutions, including credit unions (§ 14-6201(1),(4)). |
|---|---|
| How the POD designation is made | Deposit-contract terms designate party or parties and beneficiary or beneficiaries; § 14-6204 offers a substantially similar sample form, not an exclusive form. |
| Who may be named | One or more named persons may be POD beneficiaries; the quoted account article does not separately define entity eligibility (§ 14-6201(3),(7)). |
| Owner and beneficiary rights before death | Beneficiary has no right to funds while any party lives; parties own in proportion to net contributions absent clear and convincing different intent (§ 14-6211(A)-(B)). |
| Joint owner's priority over payee | Surviving parties take before POD beneficiaries; POD designation on multiple-party account without survivorship is ineffective (§ 14-6212(A)-(C)). |
| If a payee dies first | Surviving beneficiary takes after last party dies; if none survives, balance belongs to last party's estate (§ 14-6212(B)(2)). |
| Shares among surviving payees | Two or more surviving beneficiaries take equal undivided shares, with no later right of survivorship (§ 14-6212(B)(2)). |
| Changing the designation or using a will | Change account type or stop/vary payment by party-signed written notice received during life; POD rights cannot be altered by will (§ 14-6213). |
| Proof, payment, and bank discharge | Institution may pay parties or payees on request and death proof; payment matching account type discharges institution, subject to qualifying written dispute notice (§§ 14-6223, 14-6226). |
Requirements one by one
Accounts, payees and form
§ 14-6201(1),(4) covers checking, savings, certificate-of-deposit and share accounts at listed institutions, including credit unions. Its POD definition covers one or more named beneficiaries after the death of the sole or last surviving party (§ 14-6201(7)). § 14-6204(A) supplies a sample account form with party, ownership and rights-at-death selections. Subsection (B) also governs a contract that does not substantially follow the sample, based on the account type most nearly matching the depositor's intent.
Rights during life and joint-party priority
A beneficiary has no right to sums on deposit while any party lives (§ 14-6211(B)). Among parties, lifetime ownership follows net contribution absent clear and convincing evidence of a different intent (§ 14-6211(A)). When one of several parties dies, the surviving parties take first under § 14-6212(A)-(B). A POD designation on a multiple-party account expressly without survivorship is ineffective (§ 14-6212(C)).
Beneficiary survival and shares
After the sole or last party dies, surviving beneficiaries own the balance. If two or more survive, § 14-6212(B)(2) gives them equal undivided shares, without a later right of survivorship. If no beneficiary survives, the balance belongs to the last surviving party's estate.
Changing a designation or using a will
§ 14-6213(A) determines death rights by the account type at death. A party may change that type, or stop or vary payment, by a signed written notice received by the institution during the party's life. Under subsection (B), a will cannot alter the POD designation.
Payment, proof and discharge
§ 14-6223 lets the institution pay a party on request, or pay a beneficiary after receiving proof that the beneficiary survived every named party. It also describes payment to the representative or, if none, the heirs or devisees of the last named survivor. Payment according to the account type discharges the institution for the amount paid (§ 14-6226(A)); a qualifying written notice received with time to act limits that protection under subsection (B). Subsection (D) preserves ownership disputes among claimants.
What trips people up
A multiple-party POD account needs the survivorship route: § 14-6212(C) makes the POD designation ineffective if the account terms deny survivorship among parties. The illustrative form in § 14-6204 is not the only valid account wording.
Common questions
Does a POD payee own any part while an account party is alive? No. § 14-6211(B) gives the beneficiary no right to sums on deposit during any party's life.
What if every named beneficiary dies first? § 14-6212(B)(2) sends the balance to the last surviving party's estate.
Statutes and sources
The verbatim statutory passages and official Arizona section URLs appear in the statutes entries above; each was accessed October 8, 2026.
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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