(a) A registering entity offering to accept registrations in beneficiary form may establish the terms and conditions under which it will receive requests (i) for registrations in beneficiary form, and (ii) for implementation of registrations in beneficiary form, including requests for cancellation of previously registered TOD beneficiary designations and requests for reregistration to effect a change of beneficiary. The terms and conditions so established may provide for proving death, avoiding or resolving any problems concerning fractional shares, designating primary and contingent beneficiaries and substituting a named beneficiary’s descendants to take in the place of the named beneficiary in the event of the beneficiary’s death. Substitution may be indicated by appending to the name of the primary beneficiary the letters LDPS, standing for “lineal descendants per stirpes.” This designation substitutes a deceased beneficiary’s descendants who survive the owner for a beneficiary who fails to survive, the descendants to be identified and to share in accordance with the law of the beneficiary’s domicile at the owner’s death governing inheritance by descendants of an intestate. Other forms of identifying beneficiaries who are to take on 1 or more contingencies, and rules for providing proofs and assurances needed to satisfy reasonable concerns by registering entities regarding conditions and identities relevant to accurate implementation of registrations in beneficiary form, may be contained in a registering entity’s terms and conditions.

Terms Used In Delaware Code Title 12 Sec. 810

  • Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. Source: OCC
  • Beneficiary form: means a registration of a security which indicates the present owner of the security and the intention of the owner regarding the person who will become the owner of the security upon the death of the owner. See Delaware Code Title 12 Sec. 801
  • Intestate: Dying without leaving a will.
  • Per stirpes: The legal means by which the children of a decedent, upon the death of an ancestor at a level above that of the decedent, receive by right of representation the share of the ancestor
  • Registering entity: means a person who originates or transfers a security title by registration and includes a broker maintaining security accounts for customers and a transfer agent or other person acting for or as an issuer of securities. See Delaware Code Title 12 Sec. 801

(b) The following are illustrations of registrations in beneficiary form which a registering entity may authorize:

(1) Sole owner-sole beneficiary: John S. Brown TOD (or POD) John S. Brown, Jr.

(2) Multiple owners-sole beneficiary: John S. Brown, Mary B. Brown, JT TEN TOD John S. Brown, Jr.

(3) Multiple owners-primary and secondary (substituted) beneficiaries: John S. Brown, Mary B. Brown, JT TEN TOD John S. Brown, Jr. SUB BENE Peter Q. Brown or John S. Brown, Mary B. Brown JT TEN TOD John S. Brown, Jr. LDPS.

70 Del. Laws, c. 394, § ?1;