Wealth Events

What this video covers

• What the rep must do the second a customer dies: freeze the account, then collect the death certificate and letters testamentary before anything moves
• Which registrations bypass probate (Joint Tenants with Right of Survivorship (JTWROS), Tenancy by the Entirety (TBE), and Transfer on Death (TOD)) versus which dump assets into probate court (Tenants in Common (TIC) and individual accounts)
• Why TIC is the classic trap: it's a joint account but the decedent's share still goes through probate
• How the step-up in basis resets cost basis to fair market value at the date of death, and why the heir does NOT inherit the original purchase price
• The community property states exception: both halves of the account step up, not just the deceased spouse's half
• Why a TOD designation overrides a will, a trust, and even a prenup, and the one thing that can override a TOD (a court order)
• That TOD beneficiaries have zero rights to the account, no trades, no withdrawals, no balance inquiries, while the owner is still alive