Payable-on-Death Deposit-Account Beneficiary Rules in Kansas
At a glance
| Accounts covered | Individual owner's bank deposit account or legal share; separate credit-union member-account contract (K.S.A. 9-1215(a), 17-2263(a)). |
|---|---|
| How the POD designation is made | Written bank or credit-union contract naming death beneficiaries; bank changes require its prescribed form and delivery before death (K.S.A. 9-1215(a), (c); 17-2263(a), (d)). |
| Who may be named | Bank statute says one or more beneficiaries; credit-union payees may be individuals, individual or corporate fiduciaries, or qualifying nonprofit religious or charitable organizations (K.S.A. 9-1215(a); 17-2263(a), (f)). |
| Owner and beneficiary rights before death | Owner or member may withdraw and change beneficiary during life; beneficiary interest does not vest until death, subject to stated claims (K.S.A. 9-1215(c)-(d); 17-2263(c)). |
| Joint owner's priority over payee | POD reaches only the decedent's legal share; it excludes the portion belonging to another joint tenant at death (K.S.A. 9-1215(g)(1); 17-2263(e)). |
| If a payee dies first | Deceased bank payee's share passes equally to remaining payees unless contract varies; credit-union contract may name substitute payees (K.S.A. 9-1215(a); 17-2263(a)). |
| Shares among surviving payees | Bank contract may name several; a predeceased payee's share splits equally among survivors unless contract says otherwise. Credit-union shares follow the contract (K.S.A. 9-1215(a); 17-2263(a)). |
| Changing the designation or using a will | Owner may change designation in bank or credit-union prescribed form delivered before death; transfer is non-testamentary under both statutes (K.S.A. 9-1215(c), (e); 17-2263(b), (d)). |
| Proof, payment, and bank discharge | Bank payment under the statute discharges it, subject to written medical-assistance and spousal-share notices; credit union first pays a statutory medical-assistance claim, then beneficiaries (K.S.A. 9-1215(d), (f); 17-2264). |
Requirements one by one
The written contract
An individual bank owner uses a written contract with a Kansas bank under K.S.A. § 9-1215(a). A credit-union member uses a separate written contract under K.S.A. § 17-2263(a). The credit-union definition of “person” expressly includes an individual or corporate fiduciary and a qualifying nonprofit religious or charitable organization under K.S.A. § 17-2263(f).
Lifetime control and changes
Both statutes let the owner withdraw as if no beneficiary were named. The bank's prescribed change form must reach it before death under K.S.A. § 9-1215(c), and the credit union's form must likewise reach it under K.S.A. § 17-2263(d). The beneficiary's interest does not vest while the owner lives under K.S.A. §§ 9-1215(d) and 17-2263(c).
Joint ownership and surviving payees
A POD contract reaches the deceased owner's legal share, excluding the portion another joint tenant owns at death under K.S.A. §§ 9-1215(g) and 17-2263(e). The bank statute presumes equal owner shares unless the deposit contract sets another percentage under K.S.A. § 9-1215(g)(2). If a bank payee dies first, that payee's share divides equally among remaining beneficiaries unless the contract says otherwise. A credit-union contract can name a substitute payee under K.S.A. § 17-2263(a).
Payment
The bank must account for written notice of a medical-assistance claim or a surviving spouse's elective-share claim under K.S.A. § 9-1215(d)(1)-(2); payment under the section discharges it under K.S.A. § 9-1215(f). A credit union pays the specified medical-assistance claim first and any remainder to beneficiaries under K.S.A. § 17-2264.
What trips people up
A change signed but never delivered before death fails the express timing condition in K.S.A. §§ 9-1215(c) and 17-2263(d). The death transfer itself is non-testamentary under K.S.A. §§ 9-1215(e) and 17-2263(b).
Common questions
Does a joint owner lose a share to the POD payee?
No. K.S.A. §§ 9-1215(g) and 17-2263(e) exclude the portion that belongs to another joint tenant under joint-tenancy law.
Can the account name more than one person?
Yes. K.S.A. §§ 9-1215(a) and 17-2263(a) allow multiple named beneficiaries; the bank contract can vary what happens to a predeceased payee's share.
Statutes and sources
Current Kansas Revisor text: K.S.A. 9-1215, K.S.A. 17-2263, and K.S.A. 17-2264, each accessed 2026-10-08.
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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