§ 30.1-31-02 — (6-201) Definitions

As used in sections 30.1-31-02 through 30.1-31-20:
1. "Account" means a contract of deposit between a depositor and a financial institution,
and includes a checking account, savings account, certificate of deposit, and share
account.
2. "Agent" means a person authorized to make account transactions for a party.
3. "Beneficiary" means a person named as one to whom sums on deposit in an account
are payable on request after death of all parties or for whom a party is named as
trustee.
4. "Financial institution" means an organization authorized to do business under state or
federal laws relating to financial institutions, and includes a bank, trust company,
savings bank, building and loan association, savings and loan association, and credit
union.
5. "Multiple-party account" means an account payable on request to one or more of two
or more parties, whether or not a right of survivorship is mentioned.
6. "Party" means a person who, by the terms of an account, has a present right, subject
to request, to payment from the account other than as a beneficiary or agent.
7. "Payment" of sums on deposit includes withdrawal, payment to a party or third person
pursuant to check or other request, and a pledge of sums on deposit by a party, or a
setoff, reduction, or other disposition of all or part of an account pursuant to a pledge.
8. "P.O.D. designation" means the designation of:
a. A beneficiary in an account payable on request to one party during the party's
lifetime and on the party's death to one or more beneficiaries, or to one or more
parties during their lifetimes and on death of all of them to one or more
beneficiaries; or
b. A beneficiary in an account in the name of one or more parties as trustee for one
or more beneficiaries if the relationship is established by the terms of the account
and there is no subject of the trust other than the sums on deposit in the account,
whether or not payment to the beneficiary is mentioned.
9. "Receive", as it relates to notice to a financial institution, means receipt in the office or
branch office of the financial institution in which the account is established, but if the
terms of the account require notice at a particular place, in the place required.
10. "Request" means a request for payment complying with all terms of the account,
including special requirements concerning necessary signatures and regulations of the

financial institution; but, for purposes of sections 30.1-31-02 through 30.1-31-20, if
terms of the account condition payment on advance notice, a request for payment is
treated as immediately effective and a notice of intent to withdraw is treated as a
request for payment.
11. "Sums on deposit" means the balance payable on an account, including interest and
dividends earned, whether or not included in the current balance, and any deposit life
insurance proceeds added to the account by reason of death of a party.
12. "Terms of the account" includes the deposit agreement and other terms and
conditions, including the form, of the contract of deposit.