Bradley Arant Partner Bill Hinds Quoted in The Birmingham News Regarding POD Agreements

Bradley Arant Partner Bill Hinds was quoted in The Birmingham News regarding the pros and cons of using “Payable-on-Death” (POD) agreements. These agreements are a form of beneficiary designation that transfer an account directly to a chosen beneficiary, and they are being used more and more by brokerage firms and banks. While PODs offer the advantage of avoiding probate and bypassing a will, they also come with risks.

“There is no uniformity across financial institutions regarding PODs, so you have to be particularly careful about intended consequences,” said Hinds, an estate planning attorney.

The complete article, “The downside of ‘payable-on-death’ agreements,” appeared in The Birmingham News on February 14, 2016.