Adding an Agent to a Bank Account
An agency designation on a bank account is not the same as joint ownership. An agent can make deposits, withdrawals, and other transactions, but the money in the account does not belong to them. This arrangement is useful when an account holder wants someone to help manage finances without giving up ownership or creating survivorship rights.
By a writing signed by all parties, the parties may designate as an agent for all of the parties on the account a person who is not a party to the account.
A.R.S. § 14-6205(A)Every party on the account must sign the designation. The agent must be someone who is not already a party, which keeps the roles clear: owners on one side, agent on the other.
What Happens During Incapacity and After Death
One of the most important features of an agency designation is what happens if the account holder becomes incapacitated. By default, the agent's authority continues through disability or incapacity. That makes this a durable arrangement, similar to a durable power of attorney, but limited to the specific account.
Unless the terms of an agency designation provide that the authority of the agent terminates on disability or incapacity of a party, the agent's authority survives disability and incapacity. The agent may act for a party with disabilities or incapacitated party until the authority of the agent is terminated.
A.R.S. § 14-6205(B)The account terms can override this default. If the designation specifies that authority ends on incapacity, it does. But if the form is silent, the agent stays in place.
The agent's authority always ends when the sole party or last surviving party dies. At that point, the account passes according to its ownership structure or pay-on-death designation, and the agent has no further role.
