TOD Accounts 2026: What 10 Non-Traded Funds Say About Them

TOD and POD: two names, two different mechanisms

People use "TOD" and "POD" as if they were the same thing. They sit in different laws and are paid by different institutions.

• TOD is for securities. The Uniform TOD Security Registration Act (1989/1998) defines a "security" as "a share, participation, or other interest in property, in a business, or in an obligation of an enterprise or other issuer", including a "security account". A security account covers a securities account with a broker, a cash balance in a brokerage account and a reinvestment account. The act's prefatory note says it is "a free-standing version of Part 3 of Article VI of the Uniform Probate Code". Shares of a non-traded REIT or BDC are securities, so they can carry a TOD registration if the issuer or its transfer agent offers it.
• POD is for bank deposits. Florida's statute defines a pay-on-death designation as a beneficiary on an account that is payable "on request to one party during the party's lifetime and on the party's death to one or more beneficiaries" (Statutes 655.82(1)(h)). The beneficiary "has no right to sums on deposit during the lifetime of any party" (655.82(2)). Louisiana's securities act says it does not govern payable on death accounts "and other transfers by a bank or savings institution", which stay under Title 6 of its revised statutes (R.S. 9:1711.9(B)). A registration of a security may also be shown by the words “pay on death” or “POD” (Florida 711.505), so a brokerage may label a TOD security account as POD.
• Neither moves anything while the owner lives. The model act: the designation "has no effect on ownership until the owner's death", and the owner may cancel or change it "without the consent of the beneficiary" (Section 6; Florida 711.506).

If the question is a house rather than an account, that is a different tool: see our TOD deed table for all states. If the question is which of a TOD, a beneficiary form, a trust or a will controls an account, start with our guide to beneficiary designations by account type, which covers spousal consent, divorce statutes, and the Apollo Debt Solutions and StratCap terms; this page adds ten more filings and the statutory text.

What the filings of ten non-traded vehicles say about TOD

In the registration statements and prospectuses of non-traded REITs and BDCs that contain the phrase "transfer on death", the sentence in the prospectus is near identical across the Blackstone, Starwood, HPS, Apollo, Cohen & Steers and Cottonwood documents: "A TOD designation transfers the ownership of the shares to your designated beneficiary upon your death. This designation may only be made by individuals, not entities, who are the sole or joint owners with right to survivorship of the shares." They add that you must check the TOD box on the subscription agreement and “complete and return a TOD form, which you may obtain from your financial advisor”.

Transfer on death designation in ten non-traded fund filings, as of November 12, 2026

Source: the prospectus and subscription agreement text in each filing, read on November 12, 2026. "Not stated" means the saved text has no such wording; it does not mean the fund refuses. The Brookfield and Nuveen documents are prospectus supplements that contain the subscription agreement but not the full prospectus text.

Three things in the table that the funds' own pages rarely spell out.

• A box is not a designation. The TOD box on the subscription agreement is only the first step; BREIT, BCRED, SREIT and the others say a TOD form must be completed and returned. SREIT's subscription agreement carries a footnote: "Requires Transfer on Death Form". JLL Income Property Trust's agreement says the TOD "Form will be sent to account owner to effect designation". An owner who ticks the box and never returns the form should not assume the shares are covered (our reading).
• Individuals only. An LLC, a corporation or a trust cannot make the designation; a trust passes its shares by its own terms. If the shares sit in a revocable trust, the TOD question does not arise.
• IRAs are a different route. On the BREIT and Brookfield subscription agreements the TOD option sits in the list of taxable accounts and the IRA types in a separate non-taxable list, so a TOD designation is not the tool for shares held in an IRA; the custodian's beneficiary form governs (our reading).

Louisiana: closed on the forms, open in the statute

Seven of the ten subscription agreements print the same restriction: TOD is "Not Available for Louisiana Residents" (BREIT, BCRED, Apollo Realty Income Solutions, Cohen & Steers, Brookfield, Nuveen Global Cities) or "(Not available for Louisiana residents)" (HPS Corporate Lending Fund). The Nuveen document is dated October 29, 2026.

Louisiana's legislature enacted the Louisiana Uniform Transfer on Death Security Registration Act as Chapter 4 of Code Title I of Code Book III of Title 9, Revised Statutes 9:1711 to 1711.9, by Acts 2021, No. 167. Section 1711.9(A): "This Chapter shall become effective on January 1, 2022, and shall apply only to registrations of securities in beneficiary form made on and after January 1, 2022." The filings do not explain the exclusion. The statute is, however, not a copy of the model act, and the differences are the likely cause of caution (our reading, not stated by any fund):

• Formality. The registration "shall be executed by the owner in authentic form or an act under private signature executed in the presence of two persons" (9:1711.2(B)). The model act has no such step.
• Not a donation. A registration "does not constitute a donation inter vivos or mortis causa" and can be changed by the owner at any time (9:1711.4).
• A will does not override it. The chapter "shall apply notwithstanding the fact that the decedent designates a beneficiary by last will and testament" (9:1711.5(B)).
• Forced heirs are named. The registering entity is discharged from claims by "the estate, surviving spouse, creditors, heirs, legatees, or forced heirs" if it acts in good faith, but the protection does not reach a registration made after a registering entity has received written notice from a claimant who objects (9:1711.6(C)).
• Immovables are excluded. "Security" does not include "a share, participation, or other interest in immovable property" (9:1711(4)).

For a Louisiana resident this means there are two layers: the state's law now permits a TOD registration, and each issuer decides whether to accept one. As of the filings we read, most of the large non-traded vehicles say they do not accept it from Louisiana residents. The practical step is to ask the transfer agent in writing, not to rely on the form.

What the model act says about the issuer, the heir and the creditor

The Uniform Law Commission's model act is the text most states adopted in some form. Florida's version (Statutes 711.50 to 711.512, chapter 94-216) matches it closely, so the table uses both.

Key sections of the Uniform TOD Security Registration Act (1989/1998) and Florida's version

Source: Uniform TOD Security Registration Act (1989/1998), Uniform Law Commission, final act text; Florida Statutes 711.50 to 711.512 (2025), flsenate.gov; Louisiana Revised Statutes 9:1711.7. Read on November 12, 2026.

Which states have the act. The Uniform Law Commission keeps an enactment map for this act, but it loads inside an embedded dashboard that we could not read, so we do not give a count of enacting states. What we read in the official text: Florida (chapter 94-216, applying to decedents dying on or after January 1, 1995) and Louisiana (Acts 2021, No. 167, effective January 1, 2022). Section 3 of the model act also says a security may be registered in beneficiary form if the form is authorized by the law of the state of the issuer, of the registering entity, of its transfer agent, or of the owner's address, and that a registration under a law not in force is "nevertheless presumed to be valid and authorized as a matter of contract law". For a fund with a transfer agent in one state and an owner in another, the issuer's terms matter more than the owner's state.

What a TOD or POD does not do

• It does not remove the asset from your estate for federal tax. A registration you can change at any time leaves the asset within the gross estate: 26 U.S.C. 2038(a)(1) includes property the decedent transferred where enjoyment was "subject at the date of his death to any change through the exercise of a power ... to alter, amend, revoke, or terminate" (our reading). The heir's basis is the fair market value at the date of death (26 U.S.C. 1014(a)(1)), which for a non-traded REIT or BDC means the NAV-based value at that date; see what heirs owe by asset.
• It does not put the asset beyond creditors. See the table above: the model act and Florida both keep claims against the transferee.
• It does not work if the beneficiary dies first and nobody is named behind them. The security goes to the estate (Section 7), and then the probate process applies. That is what the LDPS letters are for, where the issuer allows them.
• It does not settle a dispute between family members. Florida 711.508(4) says the registering entity's protection "does not affect the rights of beneficiaries in disputes between themselves and other claimants".
• It does not make the fund buy the shares back. The heir becomes the registered owner. Whether and when shares can be sold to the fund is governed by its repurchase plan; the death and disability waivers need a certified copy of the death certificate in the BREIT, SREIT, BCRED and Brookfield text we read. Our page on death and disability repurchases for heirs covers that.
• It does not cover DST interests. We found no document in which a Delaware statutory trust sponsor offers a TOD registration for an interest sold under Regulation D, and none of our saved sources says one is available. Ask the sponsor and the trustee; if there is none, the interest passes under the owner's will or trust.

Bank POD accounts and the FDIC limit

For checking and savings accounts the tool is the POD designation. Florida's text shows the typical rules: on the death of the sole party "sums on deposit belong to the surviving beneficiary or beneficiaries", in equal and undivided shares if two or more survive, and "If no beneficiary survives, sums on deposit belong to the estate of the last surviving party" (655.82(3)(b)). A POD designation in a multiple-party account without right of survivorship is "ineffective" (655.82(4)). The bank is discharged from claims if it pays in line with the statute (655.82(7)).

The FDIC treats a POD account as an "informal revocable trust": a trust "under which a deposit passes directly to one or more beneficiaries upon the depositor's death without a written trust agreement, commonly referred to as a payable-on-death account, in-trust-for account, or Totten trust account" (12 CFR 330.10(a)(1)). Since the rule took effect on April 1, 2024, "Trust deposits are insured in an amount up to the SMDIA multiplied by the total number of beneficiaries identified by each grantor, up to a maximum of 5 beneficiaries" (330.10(b)(1)). The standard maximum deposit insurance amount is $250,000 (330.1(o)). The FDIC's rulemaking says the effect is "a total of $1,250,000" per grantor at each insured bank. Informal and formal revocable trusts and irrevocable trusts from the same grantor are aggregated (330.10(b)(2)), and the beneficiary count excludes "A person or entity that would only obtain an interest in the deposit if one or more identified beneficiaries are deceased" (330.10(c)(2)(ii)).

FDIC cover for a $400,000 POD savings account at one bank (our arithmetic)

This is arithmetic on the regulation; other deposits of the same owner in the same ownership category at the same bank count toward the same limit.

A worked example: what goes through probate (our arithmetic)

Take a typical estate: a $420,000 house, a $180,000 IRA with a named beneficiary, a $60,000 brokerage account, $25,000 of a non-traded REIT and a $9,000 checking account, $694,000 in total. We assume one owner, no spouse, no TOD deed on the house, and a probate estate in Florida with a will. Florida is the one state where we saved both the TOD securities act and the presumed fee schedules.

Probate estate with and without TOD and POD designations (our arithmetic)

Florida's presumed fee schedule uses the value of the probate estate. The attorney's presumed compensation is $1,500 for estates of $40,000 or less, $750 more up to $70,000, $750 more up to $100,000, and "3 percent on the next $900,000" (Statutes 733.6171(3)); the personal representative's commission is "3 percent for the first $1 million" (733.617(2)). Both are presumptions; the statute says the fee "is subject to negotiation" and a personal representative may renounce compensation (733.617(4)).

Presumed Florida fees on the two probate estates (our arithmetic)

The saving is 6% of the $94,000 moved outside probate, and this arithmetic ignores Florida's homestead rules and other costs (court filing, bond, appraisal). The bigger effect is time: an heir who is a TOD beneficiary applies to the registering entity with proof of death, rather than waiting for letters from a court. For what that wait looks like in other states, see our page on probate on real estate. The fee side is state specific; our pages on California probate fees and Florida probate costs and timeline give the statutory schedules for those two states.

What a reader can do with this

• Owners: list every account and mark the route it takes at death. Brokerage and bank accounts can usually carry a TOD or POD; IRAs and 401(k)s take their own beneficiary form; a house needs a deed. Anything with no route goes through probate.
• Owners of non-traded REIT or BDC shares: tick the box and return the form. Ask the fund's transfer agent for the TOD form, fill it with the beneficiary's date of birth and Social Security number as the form requires, and ask for written confirmation that the designation is on file. Only individuals can use it.
• Louisiana residents: ask each issuer in writing. The state's law has allowed TOD security registrations since January 1, 2022, but seven of the ten filings here still say it is not available to Louisiana residents.
• Owners with a POD account near $250,000: count the beneficiaries. One beneficiary is covered to $250,000 at that bank; a second named beneficiary doubles it. Contingent beneficiaries do not count.
• Name a backup. If a TOD beneficiary dies first, the shares go to the estate unless the issuer accepts LDPS or a contingent beneficiary. Review designations after a death, a divorce or a birth.
• Heirs: bring the death certificate, a government ID and the beneficiary's own details to the transfer agent or bank. The registering entity sets its own proof of death under the act (Section 10); a medallion signature guarantee is "required in certain circumstances" under the fund's transaction rules.
• Who to ask. The designation forms are contracts with the broker, bank or transfer agent; an estate-planning attorney in your state is the person to check a state-specific rule such as Louisiana's. How TOD and POD fit with the rest of the estate, taxes and the funds you hold is the part a financial adviser can weigh with you.

More for a family handling someone else's money: what a living trust costs against statutory probate fees; how executors get letters testamentary, with court fees; small estate affidavit limits by state; how long probate takes, from the creditor claim statutes; financial power of attorney rules in 13 states; guardianship vs conservatorship under state law.

FAQ

This is analysis of public documents, not investment, legal or tax advice.

Sources, read and saved on November 12, 2026: SEC filings of Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust (S-11/A, accession 0001628280-25-035351), Starwood Real Estate Income Trust (S-11/A, 0001193125-26-015410), Blackstone Private Credit Fund (N-2, 0001193125-26-198119), HPS Corporate Lending Fund (N-2, 0001193125-25-337297), Apollo Realty Income Solutions (S-11/A, 0001193125-25-141501), Cohen & Steers Income Opportunities REIT (S-11/A, 0001193125-26-029603), Brookfield Real Estate Income Trust (424B3, 0001713407-26-000082 and S-11/A 0001628280-25-031841), Cottonwood Communities (S-11/A, 0001193125-25-240366), JLL Income Property Trust (S-11/A, 0001628280-25-027235) and Nuveen Global Cities REIT (424B3, 0001193125-26-438046); Uniform TOD Security Registration Act (1989/1998), Uniform Law Commission (uniformlaws.org); Louisiana Revised Statutes 9:1711 to 1711.9 (legis.la.gov); Florida Statutes 655.82, 711.50 to 711.512, 733.617 and 733.6171 (2025, flsenate.gov); 12 CFR 330.1 and 330.10 (law.cornell.edu); FDIC final rule, Federal Register 2022-01607; 26 U.S.C. 1014 and 2038 (law.cornell.edu).