The Effective Date and Its Practical Impact
This is a short but important statute. It answers one question: when do the TOD securities registration rules take effect?
The rules apply to registrations made at any time. The key requirement is that the account owner must have died on or after December 31, 1994.
This article applies to registrations of securities in beneficiary form made before or after December 31, 1994, by decedents dying on or after December 31, 1994.
A.R.S. § 14-6311For example, if someone set up a TOD registration before this article became law, it still works. The registration is valid as long as the owner died on or after the effective date.
There is no question about retroactive use. A TOD beneficiary named years ago is still protected under these rules.
Why the Date Matters
This statute confirms that all existing TOD registrations on securities fall under the current legal framework. There is no need to worry about when a registration was created.
For practical purposes, every TOD securities registration today falls under this framework. This includes POD accounts and registrations naming multiple beneficiaries.
When a TOD beneficiary receives securities, they take ownership free of probate. If a will or other document has conflicting instructions, the TOD registration controls.
As a result, families have a clear and reliable way to pass investment assets outside of probate.