Joint accounts pass to the survivor
North Dakota follows the standard multi-party account structure most states use for bank accounts: a joint account set up with survivorship language passes to the surviving owner or owners automatically at death, without a probate proceeding for those funds. North Dakota has recognized this basic structure for joint bank deposits for a genuinely long time — an early state Attorney General opinion from the 1940s already discussed the rights and liabilities of banks paying out survivors of joint accounts, confirming this wasn't a recent development.
P.O.D. designations work independently
A payable-on-death (P.O.D.) designation on a North Dakota bank account lets the owner retain full control during their own lifetime. The named beneficiary has no rights to the account while the owner is alive, and can access the funds only after the owner dies, claiming whatever remains directly from the bank without needing to go through probate court.
A long-standing tax connection
Historically, North Dakota's estate tax law specifically included the value of interests in property held as joint tenants, or deposited in banks with survivorship, within a decedent's gross estate for tax purposes — a detail confirmed by early state Attorney General guidance addressing exactly this question. While North Dakota currently has no state estate or inheritance tax, this history shows joint bank deposits with survivorship have long been treated as a recognized, well-understood part of how North Dakotans plan their estates, well outside of probate court.
Real estate follows a related, but distinct, framework
The same basic survivorship concept extends to real estate under North Dakota's joint tenancy statute, though real property follows its own separate rules, including North Dakota's notable absence of tenancy by the entirety and its statute specifically preserving joint tenancy through certain ambiguous transactions.
Life insurance and retirement accounts
Life insurance and retirement accounts like a 401(k) or IRA follow the same basic beneficiary-designation rule as P.O.D. bank accounts: the named beneficiary receives the asset directly, outside probate, as long as they're alive when the owner dies. Either one becomes part of the probate estate only if no beneficiary was ever named, every named beneficiary predeceased the owner with no contingent beneficiary in place, or the policy or plan names the owner's own estate.