Hi 

There are lots of “tricks” to avoid probate.  Probate is a pain for your family, the bank, and everybody else.  The banks have come up with a way to avoid probate on your bank accounts.  It is basically a contract between you and the bank.

Upon your death, the bank agrees to “transfer” your account to the person or persons you name on the bank’s contract that you sign. 

The technique of automatically distributing funds in your account to the person or persons you have named is known as a Transfer on Death (TOD) or a Pay on Death (POD) account. 

Does it work?  Yes.

Are there problems with it?  Yes.

For example, an issue arises if one of the named beneficiaries is underage, incompetent, or dead when the transfer occurs. 

Trusts have provisions in them that address each of these issues, whereas the bank suddenly doesn’t know what to do.

Check out my YouTube video at https://youtu.be/PvZlbi4MqEs which discusses TOD and POD accounts vs. using a living revocable trust.