Payable-on-Death Deposit-Account Beneficiary Rules in Florida

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Accounts covered

Section 655.82(1)(a) defines an account as a deposit contract and expressly includes checking, savings, certificates of deposit and share accounts. For a credit-union POD account, subsection (8) says a beneficiary who is not already a member may not vote, obtain credit, hold office or be required to pay an entrance or membership fee merely because of the designation.

How the POD designation is made

Section 655.82(1)(h) describes a beneficiary named in the account payable to one party during life and the beneficiary after that party dies, or payable to several parties during their lives and a beneficiary after all die. It also includes a deposit account held by a party as trustee for a beneficiary when the account funds are the trust's only subject. Subsection (9) gives an example of a deposit contract with single-party and survivorship multiple-party POD choices; it is not framed as the only permissible form.

Owner and beneficiary rights before death

The beneficiary has no right to the balance during any party's lifetime (§ 655.82(2)). The institution may pay one or more parties on request even if another party is disabled, incapacitated or deceased (§ 655.82(6)(a)).

Joint owner's priority over payee

When one of several parties dies, the survivors take the balance before any POD beneficiary (§ 655.82(3)(a)). The trap is subsection (4): on a multiple-party account without survivorship, a POD designation is ineffective. Labeling the account a tenancy in common establishes that no-survivorship condition for this section.

If a payee dies first

The balance goes to surviving beneficiaries after the sole or last party dies; if no beneficiary survives, it belongs to that last party's estate (§ 655.82(3)(b)). Section 655.82(5) also subjects the recipient's balance to a party's predeath request for payment, whether the institution pays that request before or after death or leaves it unpaid, within the subsection's stated proportionate-share limit.

Shares among surviving payees

Two or more surviving beneficiaries take equal and undivided shares under § 655.82(3)(b). They do not get a later right of survivorship between themselves, except where a deposit agreement written between December 31, 1994, and July 1, 2001 provides otherwise.

Changing the designation or using a will

Section 655.82(1)(n) defines account terms to include the deposit agreement, other conditions and the account form; subsection (9) illustrates how beneficiaries appear in that contract. The section does not provide a separate change procedure or a will-based method to change the designation. The operative account terms therefore matter for a change.

Proof, payment, and bank discharge

The institution may pay a beneficiary on proof of death showing that the beneficiary survived all named parties (§ 655.82(6)(b)). A payment authorized by this section discharges the institution for the amount paid, even if the recipient's beneficial ownership is disputed (§ 655.82(7)); that payment protection is distinct from the ownership rule in subsection (3).

What trips people up

A POD label does not cure a multiple-party account lacking survivorship (§ 655.82(4)). Also, the beneficiary's future interest gives no lifetime withdrawal right (§ 655.82(2)), and the institution's payment discharge under subsection (7) does not decide every dispute among the recipients.

Common questions

Can two beneficiaries be named?

Yes. If both survive the last party, § 655.82(3)(b) gives them equal undivided shares, subject to the narrow historical agreement rule on later survivorship.

Does the bank need proof of every owner's death?

For payment to a beneficiary under § 655.82(6)(b), the proof must show that the beneficiary survived every person named as a party.

Does a credit-union beneficiary become a voting member?

Not merely by being named. Section 655.82(8) restricts voting, credit and office rights for a beneficiary who is not a member in their own right.

Statutes and sources

• Fla. Stat. § 655.82 — official section (accessed 2026-10-08).