While you’re alive, your accounts are your personal property. However, the joint tenancy approach fails to work well if a couple dies simultaneously, or under circumstances where it can’t be determined who died first. I understand that a ward's assets become part of his/her estate after death. An estate planning document is silent on the issue of predeceased beneficiaries if no contingent beneficiaries are identified. What happens to a bank account when someone dies without a will? Instead of opening a new Guardianship account, the original account that the now beneficiary had was maintenance into a guardianship account. the wife, survived the husband. The Simultaneous Death Law also addresses a circumstance where a spouse owns an asset individually and both die together. Legal Guardians. However, banks do not keep track of the ages of account holders and banks are under no legal obligation to close a custodial account purely on the basis that the beneficiary has reached legal adulthood. The guardian seeking discharge needs to know the requirements of filing the report and the petition. The original account had a POD. Since fiduciary accounts cannot have a POD, and this one does, what will happen when the beneficiary dies? A guardianship doesn't sever the legal relationship that exists between a child and his or her biological parents, however. The POD was not removed when the account was maintenance. A contingent beneficiary is a backup, secondary beneficiary who receives an account or piece of property if the first beneficiary, known as the primary beneficiary, dies … Your beneficiary designation form will be on file at the bank, so the bank will know that it has legal authority to hand over the funds. Guardianship of minors pertains to a legal relationship between a minor child and a guardian that gives the guardian certain rights and obligations regarding the child. Instead, it co-exists with that legal relationship. What Rights Does an Account Beneficiary Have? Each spouse is usually named as the beneficiary of the other’s retirement accounts, individual retirement account, and life insurance policies, so these will bypass probate. However, the guardian must first file a final report, including an accounting, and petition for discharge for court approval before the discharge is granted. You can spend your money, close your account or change beneficiaries. A Special Needs Trust is a specialized legal tool that allows a beneficiary with disabilities to utilize property or money held in the trust for his or her benefit, without jeopardizing the ability to access essential needs-based public benefits such as Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Medicaid. What Happens to the Funds in a Special Needs Trust When the Beneficiary Dies? If both die together, the statute provides that the owner, i.e. If your beneficiary dies before you, the account assets become part of your estate to be distributed under the terms of your will. Before beginning the discussion, it is a good idea to define the terms. A legal guardian is a person to whom a court has legally given the responsibility of raising another person's child. Thanks for your reply, Mr. Knowitall. An example might be a wife who owns an IRA and names her husband as beneficiary. The same would be true of a joint bank account. Jointly Owned Accounts. However, my specific question is whether the original beneficiary(ies) of the now incapacitated ward's bank accounts, which have been and/or will be transferred to one main guardianship account at one particular bank revert back to those beneficiaries once a ward passes? A guardian of the property is also discharged when the ward dies. 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