What to do when a J.P. Morgan account holder dies

No. Under the Transfer on Death Agreement, the named TOD beneficiaries take the account assets even if the will or living trust directs a contrary disposition. The single exception is a will or trust that specifically and expressly revokes the TOD designation — and even then, unless J.P. Morgan Securities receives timely actual notice of the revocation, it will deliver the assets to the TOD beneficiaries once they present proof of entitlement. JPMS also has no obligation to locate beneficiaries or to verify what they submit, and it is the beneficiaries who must initiate the transfer.

It depends on which account, and the two rules are different. On a TOD brokerage account, if you did not select "Per Stirpes" for that beneficiary, their share is redistributed among the surviving beneficiaries in PROPORTION to their designated shares (the form's own example: an account left "Abel 50%, Baker 25%, Cain 25%" where Baker dies first pays Abel two-thirds and Cain one-third). On an IRA, the IRA Beneficiary Update Request says the deceased beneficiary's share is divided EQUALLY among the surviving beneficiaries at that level. If you selected Per Stirpes on either form, the share goes to that beneficiary's living descendants — and on the IRA the personal representative of your estate has to identify them. If every TOD beneficiary predeceases you, the personal representative can present evidence of that and have the assets paid to the estate.

The trust must have a valid tax identification number, and Section 4 of the IRA Beneficiary Update Request makes you certify one of two things: (A) that the trust satisfies Treasury Regulation 1.401(a)(9)-4 Q&A-5(b) — valid under state law, irrevocable at your death, identifying its beneficiaries and their interests by name or specific relation, with the trustee obligated to hand JPMS the trust instrument or a certified beneficiary list; or (B) that it does not, in which case your IRA is treated as having no designated beneficiary for RMD and post-death payout purposes. Either way, JPMS pays only the trust: it will not open inherited IRAs for, or make payments to, the trust's individual beneficiaries or any sub-trusts, and separate accounting per trust beneficiary is not permitted.

Only if the person who died was not the primary account holder. The JPMS account reports taxes under the primary account holder's Social Security number, so the Remove a Joint Account Holder form cannot be used to remove the primary owner — if the primary owner died, the surviving holders have to open a new JPMS brokerage account and move the assets into it. To remove a non-primary joint owner, all remaining account holders sign the same form (it requires printing and notarization) and attach a copy of the death certificate. On a community property, tenants-by-the-entirety, or tenants-in-common account, JPMS runs a separate verification through its Estate Services department first. Also note the registration decides the split: JTWROS vests the whole account in the survivors, while a tenants-in-common account is divided into equal shares by owner count as of the close of business on the day of death unless JPMS was told in writing that ownership was unequal.