Updated October 8, 2026. Quick answer: Yes, for accounts and vehicles. In Texas Estates Code chapter 113, a brokerage firm counts as a financial institution, and the term P.O.D. account includes “an account designated as a transfer on death or T.O.D. account” payable to a named payee after the owner’s death.
How Texas handles transfer-on-death registration
| Item | What the state documents say |
|---|---|
| Brokerage and securities accounts | Texas Estates Code chapter 113 on multiple-party accounts defines an account to include one holding securities such as stocks, bonds, and mutual funds. It defines a financial institution to include a brokerage firm, and a P.O.D. account, including one designated as a transfer on death or T.O.D. account, is payable to a named P.O.D. payee after the owner’s death. The source says: “brokerage firm that deals in the sale and purchase of stocks”. The pages cited here do not show a separate uniform security registration act for Texas, so the account agreement with the firm sets the form and the brokerage is the place to confirm what it offers. |
| Effect on the will and probate | Section 113.152 provides that on the death of the original payee, sums remaining on deposit belong to the surviving P.O.D. payee under a written agreement signed by the original payee. Section 113.158 treats that transfer as arising from the account contract and not from a will. The source says: “and are not to be considered testamentary transfers”. Section 111.052 of the Estates Code also treats a payment on death provision in a security or account with a financial institution as nontestamentary. |
| Changing the beneficiary | During the original payee’s lifetime the account belongs to the original payee and not to the P.O.D. payee. Section 113.157 lets a party change the form of an account by a signed written order that the financial institution receives during the party’s lifetime. The source says: “does not belong to the P.O.D. payee or payees”. The order must not be countermanded by another written order of the same party. |
| Vehicle titles | Texas Transportation Code section 501.0315 lets the owner of a motor vehicle designate a sole beneficiary on an application for title, and the beneficiary’s legal name must appear on the title. Estates Code chapter 115 makes the designation a nontestamentary instrument. The source says: “A will may not revoke or supersede a beneficiary designation”. The designation may be changed or revoked by submitting a new application for title, and the beneficiary must apply for title within 180 days of the owner’s death with proof of death. |
A $250,000 brokerage account split
An owner holds a brokerage account worth $250,000 and registers it in beneficiary form to two named beneficiaries, with each to receive half. Each share is computed as $250,000 x 50% = $125,000. The 50/50 split is the owner’s illustration, not a rule of the state: the owner names the beneficiaries and, where the form allows it, the shares.
Real estate, probate and estate tax
A transfer on death deed is a different instrument for real property: see Texas transfer on death deed. For what probate costs in Texas, see Texas probate cost, and for Texas’s own estate or inheritance tax, see Texas estate and inheritance tax. Which of these your account or vehicle falls under depends on how it is titled.
Related: Texas probate cost, how Texas taxes retirement income, Texas estate and inheritance tax, Texas transfer on death deed, car titles after a death, by state, and transfer-on-death registration by state.
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Answer againSources
- Texas Estates Code, Chapter 113: Multiple-Party Accounts (Texas Legislative Council): https://tcss.legis.texas.gov/resources/ES/htm/ES.113.htm
- Texas Estates Code, Chapter 115: Beneficiary Designation for Motor Vehicles (Texas Legislative Council): https://tcss.legis.texas.gov/resources/ES/htm/ES.115.htm
- Texas Transportation Code, Chapter 501 (Texas Legislative Council): https://tcss.legis.texas.gov/resources/TN/htm/TN.501.htm
- Texas Estates Code, Chapter 111: Nonprobate Assets in General (Texas Legislative Council): https://tcss.legis.texas.gov/resources/ES/htm/ES.111.htm
Sources: the primary documents linked above, read on October 8, 2026. General information, not tax advice. Your own facts decide the outcome, and a preparer, the plan administrator or the agency itself is the right place to confirm anything consequential.