P.O.D. Account Beneficiary

By: Derek Hawkins//November 1, 2017//

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WI Court of Appeals – District II

Case Name: Todd Mueller v. Thomas Edwards, et al.

Case No.: 2016AP2437

Officials: Neubauer, C.J., Reilly, P.J., and Gundrum, J.

Focus: P.O.D. Account Beneficiary

This case addresses whether a beneficiary designation on a “P.O.D. account” under WIS. STAT. ch. 705 (2015-16) may be controlled by a writing separate from the contract of deposit between a depositor and his or her financial institution. Todd Mueller alleges that a handwritten note made by Robert Zernzach (depositor) sometime after Zernzach had entered into a P.O.D. account with US Bank (financial institution) resulted in Mueller being the sole beneficiary upon Zernzach’s death. We affirm the circuit court’s finding that the beneficiaries stated in the records of the bank were the lawful owners of the proceeds as Zernzach and US Bank never amended the P.O.D. account to change the beneficiary to Mueller.

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Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing partner at Hawkins Law Offices LLC, where he heads up the firm’s startup law practice. He specializes in business formation, corporate governance, intellectual property protection, private equity and venture capital funding and mergers & acquisitions. Check out the website at www.hawkins-lawoffices.com or contact them at 262-737-8825.

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