Cox Estate

23 Pa. D. & C.2d 390, 1960 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 209
CourtPennsylvania Orphans' Court, Philadelphia County
DecidedDecember 16, 1960
Docketno. 1229 of 1960
StatusPublished

This text of 23 Pa. D. & C.2d 390 (Cox Estate) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Orphans' Court, Philadelphia County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Cox Estate, 23 Pa. D. & C.2d 390, 1960 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 209 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1960).

Opinion

Lefever, J.,

This case is before the court on petition, answer and reply. Pursuant to our rule *32.2 (d) (1), it was assigned to the undersigned for hearing. The issue is the ownership of a savings account in the names of decedent, Charles M. Cox, and petitioner, Marie J. Ward.

The basic facts are undisputed.

On August 17, 1956, decedent and petitioner opened savings account no. W 42883 in the Western Saving Fund Society of Philadelphia. In connection therewith they signed a signature card entitled: “Cox, Chas. M. —Ward, Marie J. — EITHER TO DRAW.” On the reverse side of the signature card was the following agreement which they also signed:

“It is agreed and understood that any and all sums that may from time to time stand in this account to our credit shall be oioned by us as joint tenants and not as tenants in common, or by us as tenants by the entireties in the case of husband and wife; that said Western Saving Fund Society of Philadelphia is hereby authorized and directed to pay money unconditionally from such sums upon orders or receipts drawn by us or by either or any of us and, from time to time, to accept assignments made to it (but to it alone) by any [392]*392one or more of us of any sums in this account as collateral security for any loan or loans that it may make to any one or more of us, and that in case of the death of either or any of us the balance then remaining in said account shall be the absolute property of the survivor or survivors and said Society is hereby authorized and directed to deal with the survivor or survivors (with all the within rights of joint tenants) as the sole and absolute owner or owners of such sums. Each of us hereby authorizes the other, or any of the others, to endorse for deposit in this account any instrument payable to the order of all or either or any of us.
“WITNESS our hands and seal this 17 day of Aug 1968
s/ Chas. M. Cox, Jr. (Seal)
s/ Marie J. Ward <Seal) ”
(Italics supplied.)

The account was started with a deposit of $3,000. Thereafter, decedent made a series of additional deposits totalling $2,250. All of the deposits were made with decedent’s money. No withdrawals were ever made by either party.

Decedent died intestate on November 1, 1959. Decedent’s brother was appointed administrator of the estate. He has possession of the passbook for the account. Petitioner has never had possession of it.

Petitioner has made demand upon the administrator to deliver the passbook to her and upon the Western Saving Fund Society of Philadelphia to pay to her the balance in the account. The administrator has refused to deliver the passbook and the society has refused to pay unless it receives the passbook or there is an order of court directing it to pay. The present litigation was instituted to compel the administrator to deliver the passbook to petitioner and the society to recognize petitioner as owner of the account.

Was there a joint tenancy with right of survivorship created in the account in dispute?

[393]*393The two requisites for a valid inter vivos gift are intention to make a gift and delivery: Martella Estate, 390 Pa. 255; King Estate, 387 Pa. 119; Parkhurst Estate (No. 2), 20 D. & C. 2d 761. These requisites are met by the written agreement between the parties: Furjanick Estate, 375 Pa. 484, and Amour Estate, 397 Pa. 262. In each of those cases a joint savings account was opened by the owners signing a signature card and also a written contract creating a joint tenancy with right of survivorship and specifically providing that upon the death of either the balance in said account shall belong to the survivor of them, and all deposits were the money of decedent.

The law was summarized in Furjanick Estate, supra, at page 489, et seq:

“When a depositor creates a joint savings or checking (bank) account with right of survivorship, and a signature card so stating is executed by both parties, these facts are prima facie evidence of a gift inter vivos by the depositor to the other, and the creation of a joint tenancy with right of survivorship: Fell Estate, 369 Pa. 597, 87 A. 2d 310; Lochinger v. Hanlon, 348 Pa. 29, 33 A. 2d 1; Mader et al. v. Stemler et al., 319 Pa. 374, 179 A. 719 . . .
“When Furjanick opened a new savings account and checking account in the joint names of himself and his niece and then he and his niece signed the aforesaid written agreement setting forth in detail the terms of the contract and the rights of the respective parties therein, the money in those accounts was thereafter owned and held in exact accordance with the terms and provisions of that agreement.”

In Amour Estate, supra, the court stated at page 264-265:

“The touchstone of this case is the fact .that what purports on its face to be a complete written agreement was executed by Miss Amour and Carlin at the [394]*394time the account was opened. No fraud, accident or mistake was alleged or proved.”

The crucial facts in Furjanick Estate, supra, Amour Estate, supra, and in the instant case, are the execution by both donor and donee of the signature card and the agreement creating joint tenancy with right of survivorship contained on that card.

Where a joint account is opened by the donor without the donee signing a signature card and a contract creating joint tenancy, there is no valid gift made or joint tenancy created: Isherwood v. Springs First National Bank, 365 Pa. 225; Balfour v. Seitz, 392 Pa. 300.

However, petitioner and decedent in the case at bar did not merely-have their names registered as joint, owners of the account in question. They went much further. They both signed and sealed a complete, formal written agreement which set forth their respective rights in the bank account while they both, lived and the rights therein of the survivor. The administrator contends that this plain and unambiguous agreement is meaningless and a nullity. In the absence of proof of fraud, accident or mistake, this contention cannot prevail.

The administrator makes much of the fact that the rules of the Western Saving Fund Society of Philadelphia, to which the parties assented, and the passbook provided: “This book must be presented when making deposits or withdrawals.” This is a regulation of the bank for its own convenience and protection. Most savings banks have a similar regulation. It in no way affects the agreement between the parties.

The administrator also attacks the written agreement between the parties on the ground of lack of consideration. However, the agreement was under seal, in such case “Not only is it unnecessary to prove consideration, but in the absence of fraud the promise is enforceable without it”: Peoples Pittsburgh Trust Co. [395]*395v. Barth, 161 Pa. Superior Ct. 72, 73. Moreover, in Mardis v. Steen, 293 Pa. 13, 18, the court upheld the rights of surviving joint depositor in a similar case, stating:

“In the present case we have, in addition to the fact of a joint account being opened, an express agreement creating a joint tenancy, and authorizing and directing the bank to deal with the survivor ‘as sole and absolute owner thereof.’ The agreement is under seal, which imports a consideration: Grady v.

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Related

Isherwood v. Springs-First National Bank
74 A.2d 89 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1950)
Amour Estate
154 A.2d 502 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1959)
Balfour v. Seitz
140 A.2d 441 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1958)
Furjanick Estate
100 A.2d 85 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1953)
Martella Estate
135 A.2d 372 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1957)
King Estate
126 A.2d 463 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1956)
Fell Estate
87 A.2d 310 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1952)
Mader v. Stemler
179 A. 719 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1935)
Mardis, Administratrix v. Steen
141 A. 629 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1928)
Lochinger v. Hanlon
33 A.2d 1 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1943)
Peoples Pittsburgh Trust Co. v. Barth
53 A.2d 845 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1947)
Grady v. Sheehan
100 A. 950 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1917)

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Bluebook (online)
23 Pa. D. & C.2d 390, 1960 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 209, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cox-estate-paorphctphilad-1960.