In Louisiana, a mother adds the name of an adult child on a CD. At the death of the mother, are ownership rights of that account transferred to the child? Are all bank accounts "frozen" at the death of the primary owner? How are they "frozen"?

Is P.O.D. or Rights of Survivorship legal in Louisiana?

The question is how was the child added? As Joint tenant with Right of survivorship or what?

If for example the CD is left to the beneficiary, ( or any bank account) you have to prove your ID and provide copy of the death certificate, to get the funds released

If it is a joint account, it is not frozen but you provide a copy of death certificate to take them off.

Joint tennacy with Rights of Survival (JTWROS) is not a legal form of ownership in Louisiana.
Also, POD accounts are not available in Louisiana.
Therefore, simply adding a name to a bank account does not make it a gift. It does not replace a Will. It does not replace Letters Testamentary from a court.

A bank should "Freeze" any decedent's account until a Judge in a Probate Court authorizes a Trustee to make transactions. To protect the bank, they should not allow anyone to make any transaction on behalf of a decedent. How could the Bank know the wishes of a Decedent?

Hmm you ask a question then answer it. You are correct that LA does not allow such types of accounts. But they do allow Tenants in Common. In such a case, both owners have equal rights to the account so they would not be frozen. So the question still remains how was the child added?

Joint tennacy with Rights of Survival (JTWROS) is not a legal form of ownership in Louisiana.
Also, POD accounts are not available in Louisiana.
Therefore, simply adding a name to a bank account does not make it a gift. It does not replace a Will. It does not replace Letters Testamentary from a court.

A bank should "Freeze" any decedent's account until a Judge in a Probate Court authorizes a Trustee to make transactions. To protect the bank, they should not allow anyone to make any transaction on behalf of a decedent. How could the Bank know the wishes of a Decedent?

Im wondering where your getting your information from because Im finding conflicting information as far as POD accounts go.

Where do you get that they are not available??

2006 Louisiana Code - RS 6:766.1 — Payable on death accounts - Louisiana RS 6:766.1 — Payable on death accounts :: Justia -- US Laws, Codes, Statutes & Cases -- Justia (http://law.justia.com/louisiana/codes/2006/121/106132.html)

ScottGem finds this helpful : Hmmm Interesting. I did find other references that stated they were not allowed, but the law seems clear.


Im finding lots of links like this one that exclude Louisiana. But bare in mind the article is from 1999.

'Payable-on-death' setup acts as trust (http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/colyrmn/yrmn056.htm)

The newest information I had found was that direct quoted link from 2006. So that would superceed any information prior to. That's why we all look at the same thing and may have different answers. I believe the 2006 information to be correct at this time.