How does this beneficiary thing work with bank accounts?

Question

So I have a grandpa that wants to put me as the only beneficiary on his account. He has two families. I would be the grandchild of the "other woman." Can the woman he is married to, and his other children/grandchildren do anything to get his money?

Answer 1

There are actually more than one type of 'beneficiary' designation available on bank accounts.  The exact answer depends on which type is used.  The most common is called "payable on death".  That means when the primary owner dies, the account is payable to the beneficiary.  the account is legally never part of the estate and thus is NOT subject to claims by other POTENTIAL heirs.

NOTE: in many states, he does not have to leave the other children anything, as long as his will makes clear they were deliberately left out not just forgotten.

Answer 2

I agree with Steve.

Only question I have is what happens if Grandpa ends up

with a court appointed family member that has full power of

attorney to handle his finances?

Could that person change the beneficiary on his accounts?

What would happen if you opened a savings account in your

name and grandpa's name and have grandpa deposit "your"

inheritance in it?

You could make a stipulation that any withdrawal requires

both signatures of the account holders until of course one

account holder can prove that the other one died...

My first husband and I once owned a joint savings account that

required both of our signatures if we wanted to make withdrawals.

This way we made it really hard for us to take money out for

no good reason and we both had to agree to make a withdrawal

and go to the bank together to be able to do it.

Worked just fine... this account eventually accumulated our

down payment on our first house.

Answer 3

The money would pass directly to you without having to go through probate.  You would need to present a death certificate and your indentification to claim the money.  It is a very simple process that can be done very quickly.

This other descendants may benefit from the rest of his estate but this money would be yours, which is apparently what he wishes.