We are not aware of any restrictions on who is named beneficiary of a payable on death account under the Illinois Trust and Payable on Death Accounts Act. With that said, we strongly advise against allowing employees to name themselves as beneficiaries on customer payable-on-death accounts (with exceptions only for family relationships).

If a customer is at a loss as to picking a beneficiary for a payable-on-death account, we note that the Act was recently amended to allow account owners to designate as beneficiary a trust, corporation, charitable organization or any other entity that maintains a “lawful existence.” See Public Act 96-1151, amending (among other sections) 205 ILCS 625/2.