TITLE 19

Financial institutions

CHAPTER 19-9

Community Obligations and Banking Offenses

SECTION 19-9-14.1



   § 19-9-14.1  Uniform multiple-person

accounts. –

Part I. Definitions and General Provisions

   (a) Definitions. For purposes of this section the

following words and phrases shall have the following meanings, unless the

context indicates another meaning:



   (1) "Account" means a contract of deposit between a depositor

and a depository 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) "Devisee" means any person designated in a will to

receive a testamentary disposition of real or personal property.



   (5) "Depository institution" means an organization authorized

to receive deposits and to do business under state or federal laws relating to

financial institutions, and credit unions, and includes a bank, trust company,

savings bank, building and loan association, savings and loan company or

association.



   (6) "Heirs" means those persons, including a surviving

spouse, who are entitled under the statutes of intestate succession to the

property of a decedent.



   (7) "Multiple-person" or "Multiple-party account" means an

account payable on request to one or more parties, whether or not a right of

survivorship is mentioned.



   (8) "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.



   (9) "Payment" means payment of sums on deposit and 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 set-off, reduction,

or other disposition of all or part of an account pursuant to a pledge.



   (10) "Personal representative" includes executor,

administrator, successor or other court appointed fiduciary, and persons who

perform substantially the same function under the law governing decedent's

estates.



   (11) "POD designation" means the designation of: (i) a

beneficiary in an account payable on request to one party during his or her

lifetime and on his or her 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 (ii) 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 trust property other

than the sums on deposit in the account, whether or not payment to the

beneficiary is mentioned.



   (12) "Receive" as it relates to notice to a depository

institution, means receipt in the principal office or branch office of the

depository institution in which the account is established, but if the terms of

the account require notice at a particular place, in the place required.



   (13) "Request" means a request for payment complying with all

terms of the account, including special requirements concerning necessary

signatures and regulations of the depository institution; but, for purposes of

this section 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.



   (14) "State" includes any state of the United States, the

District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and any territory or

possession subject to the legislative authority of the United States.



   (15) "Successors" means those persons, other than creditors,

who are entitled to property of a decedent under the decedent's will, by

intestacy or otherwise.



   (16) "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.



   (17) "Terms of the account" includes the deposit agreement

and other terms and conditions, including the form, of the contract of deposit.



   (b) Scope. This section applies to accounts in this

state. This section does not apply to:



   (1) An account established for a partnership, joint venture,

or other organization for a business purpose;



   (2) An account controlled by one or more persons as an agent

or trustee for a corporation, unincorporated association, or charitable or

civic organization; or



   (3) A fiduciary or trust account in which the relationship is

established other than by the terms of the account.



   (c) Types of accounts – Existing accounts.



   (1) An account may be for a single party or multiple parties.

A multiple-party account may be with or without a right of survivorship between

the parties. Subject to subsection (h)(3), either a single-party account or a

multiple-party account may have a POD designation.



   (2) An account established before, on, or after the effective

date of this section, whether in the form prescribed in subsection (d) or in

any other form, is either a single-party account or a multiple-party account,

with or without right of survivorship, and with or without a POD designation,

within the meaning of this section is governed by this subsection.



   (d) Forms.



   (1) A contract of deposit that contains provisions in

substantially the following form establishes the type of account provided; and

the account is governed by the provisions of this section applicable to an

account of that type:



   UNIFORM SINGLE- OR MULTIPLE-PARTY ACCOUNT FORM

   PARTIES [Name One or More Parties]:



   OWNERSHIP [Select One And Initial]:



   ]]]]]]]] SINGLE-PARTY ACCOUNT – Party's own account



   ]]]]]]]] MULTIPLE-PARTY ACCOUNT – Parties' own account

in proportion to net contributions unless there is clear and convincing

evidence of a different intent.



   RIGHTS AT DEATH [Select One And Initial]:



   ]]]]]]]] SINGLE-PARTY ACCOUNT – At death of party,

ownership passes as part of party's estate.



   ]]]]]]]] SINGLE-PARTY ACCOUNT WITH POD (PAY ON DEATH)

DESIGNATION – At death of party, ownership passes to POD beneficiary or

beneficiaries, equally, and is not part of party's estate.



   [Name One Or More Beneficiaries]:



   ]]]]]]]] MULTIPLE-PARTY ACCOUNT WITH RIGHT OF SURVIVORSHIP

– At death of party, ownership passes to surviving party or parties.



   ]]]]]]]] MULTIPLE-PARTY ACCOUNT WITH RIGHT OF SURVIVORSHIP

AND POD (PAY ON DEATH) DESIGNATION – At death of last surviving party,

ownership passes to POD beneficiary or beneficiaries, equally, and is not part

of last surviving party's estate.



   [Name One Or More Beneficiaries]:



   ]]]]]]]] MULTIPLE-PARTY ACCOUNT WITHOUT RIGHT OF SURVIVORSHIP

– At death of party, deceased party's ownership passes as part of deceased

party's estate.



   (2) A contract of deposit that does not contain provisions in

substantially the form provided in subsection (d)(1) is governed by the

provisions of this section applicable to the type of account that most nearly

conforms to the depositor's intent.



   (e) Designation of agent.



   (1) By a writing signed by all parties, the parties may

designate another person as agent of all parties on an account.



   (2) Unless the terms of an agency designation provide that

the agent's authority terminates on disability or incapacity of a party, the

agent's authority survives such disability or incapacity. The agent may act for

a disabled or incapacitated party until the authority of the agent is

terminated.



   (3) Death of the sole party or last surviving party

terminates the authority of an agent.



   (f) Applicability of Parts. The provisions of Part II

concerning beneficial ownership as between parties or as between parties and

beneficiaries apply only to controversies between those persons and their

creditors and other successors, and do not apply to the right of those persons

to payment as determined by the terms of the account. Part III governs the

liability and set-off rights of depository institutions that make payments

pursuant to it.



   Part II. Ownership as Between Parties and Others

   (g) Ownership during lifetime.



   (1) In this subsection, "net contribution" of a party means

the sum of all deposits to an account made by or for the party, less all

payments from the account made to or for the party which have not been paid to

or applied to the use of another party and a proportionate share of any charges

deducted from the account, plus a proportionate share of any interest or

dividends earned, whether or not included in the current balance. The term

includes any deposit life insurance proceeds added to the account by reason of

death of the party whose net contribution is in question.



   (2) During the lifetime of all parties, an account belongs to

the parties in proportion to the net contribution of each to the sums on

deposit, unless there is clear and convincing evidence of a different intent.

As between parties married to each other, in the absence of proof otherwise,

the net contribution of each is presumed to be an equal amount.



   (3) A beneficiary in an account having a POD designation has

no right to sums on deposit during the lifetime of any party.



   (h) Rights at death.



   (1) Except as otherwise provided in this section, on death of

a party sums on deposit in a multiple-party account belong to the surviving

party or parties. If two (2) or more parties survive and one is the surviving

spouse of the decedent, the amount to which the decedent, immediately before

death, was beneficially entitled under subsection (g) belongs to the surviving

spouse. If two (2) or more parties survive and none is the surviving spouse of

the decedent, the amount to which the decedent, immediately before death, was

beneficially entitled under subsection (g) belongs to the surviving parties in

equal shares, and augments the proportion to which each survivor, immediately

before the decedent's death, was beneficially entitled under subsection (g),

and the right of survivorship continues between the surviving parties.



   (2) In an account with a POD designation:



   (i) On death of one of two (2) or more parties, the rights in

sums on deposit are governed by subsection (h)(1).



   (ii) On death of the sole party or the last survivor of two

(2) or more parties, sums on deposit belong to the surviving beneficiary or

beneficiaries. If two (2) or more beneficiaries survive, sums on deposit belong

to them in equal and undivided shares, and there is no right of survivorship in

the event of death of a beneficiary thereafter. If no beneficiary survives,

sums on deposit belong to the estate of the last surviving party.



   (3) Sums on deposit in a single-party account without a POD

designation, or in a multiple-party account that, by the terms of the account,

is without right of survivorship, are not affected by death of a party, but the

amount of which the decedent, immediately before death, was beneficially

entitled under subsection (g) herein is transferred as part of the decedent's

estate. A POD designation in a multiple-party account without right of

survivorship is ineffective. For purposes of this section, designation of an

account as a tenancy in common establishes that the account is without right of

survivorship.



   (4) The ownership right of a surviving party or beneficiary,

or of the decedent's estate, in sums on deposit is subject to requests for

payment made by a party before the party's death, whether paid by the

depository institution before or after death, or unpaid. The surviving party or

beneficiary, or the decedent's estate, is liable to the payee of an unpaid

request for payment. The liability is limited to a proportionate share of the

amount transferred under this section, to the extent necessary to discharge the

request for payment.



   (i) Alteration of rights. Rights at death of a party

under subsection (h) are determined by the terms of the account at the death of

the party. A party may alter the terms of the account by a notice signed by the

party and given to the depository institution to change the terms of the

account or to stop or vary payment under the terms of the account. To be

effective, the notice must be received by the financial institution during the

party's lifetime. A right of survivorship, arising from the express terms of

the account, subsection (h), or a POD designation, may not be altered by will.



   (j) Accounts and transfers nontestamentary. A transfer

resulting from the application of subsection (h) is effective by reason of the

terms of the account involved and this section and is not testamentary or

subject to estate administration.



   Part III. Protection of Depository Institutions

   (k) Authority of depository institution. A depository

institution may enter into a contract of deposit for a multiple-party account

to the same extent it may enter into a contract of deposit for a single-party

account, and may provide for a POD designation in either a single-party account

or a multiple-party account. A depository institution need not inquire as to

the source of a deposit to an account or as to the proposed application of a

payment from an account.



   (l) Payment on multiple-party account. A depository

institution, on request, may pay sums on deposit in a multiple-party account to:



   (1) One or more of the parties, whether or not another party

is disabled, incapacitated, or deceased when payment is requested and whether

or not the party making the request survives another party; or



   (2) The personal representative, if any, or, if there is

none, the heirs or devisees of a deceased party if proof of death is presented

to the depository institution showing that the deceased party was the survivor

of all other persons named on the account either as a party or beneficiary,

unless the account is without right of survivorship under subsection (h).



   (m) Payment on POD designation. A depository

institution, on request, may pay sums on deposit in an account with a POD

designation to:



   (1) One or more of the parties, whether or not another party

is disabled, incapacitated, or deceased when the payment is requested and

whether or not a party survives another party;



   (2) The beneficiary or beneficiaries, if proof of death is

presented to the depository institution showing that the beneficiary or

beneficiaries survived all persons named as parties; or



   (3) The personal representative, if any, or, if there is

none, the heirs or devisees of a deceased party, if proof of death is presented

to the depository institution showing that the deceased party was the survivor

of all other persons named on the account either as a party or beneficiary.



   (n) Payment to designated agent. A depository

institution, on request of an agent under a power of attorney or other agency

designation for an account, may pay to the agent sums on deposit in the

account, whether or not a party is disabled, incapacitated, or deceased when

the request is made or received, and whether or not the authority of the agent

terminates on the disability or incapacity of a party.



   (o) Payment to minor. If a depository institution is

required or permitted to make payment pursuant to this chapter to a minor

designated as a beneficiary, payment may be made pursuant to the Uniform

Transfers to Minors Act.



   (p) Discharge.



   (1) Payment made pursuant to this section in accordance with

the terms of the account discharges the depository institution from all claims

for amounts so paid, whether or not the payment is consistent with the

beneficial ownership of the account as between parties, beneficiaries, or their

successors. Payment may be made whether or not a party, beneficiary, or agent

is disabled, incapacitated, or deceased when payment is requested, received, or

made.



   (2) Protection under this section does not extend to payments

made after a depository institution has received written notice from a party,

or from the personal representative, surviving spouse, or heir or devisee of a

deceased party, to the effect that payments in accordance with the terms of the

account, including one having an agency designation, should not be permitted,

and the depository institution has had a reasonable opportunity to act on it

when the payment is made. Unless the notice is withdrawn by the person giving

it, the successor of any deceased party must concur in request for payment if

the depository institution is to be protected under this section. Unless a

depository institution has been served with process in an action or proceeding,

no other notice or other information shown to have been available to the

depository institution affects its right to protection under this section.



   (3) A depository institution that receives written notice

pursuant to this section or otherwise has reason to believe that a dispute

exists as to the rights of the parties may refuse, without liability, to make

payments in accordance with the terms of the account.



   (4) Protection of a depository institution under this section

does not affect the rights of parties in disputes between themselves or their

successors concerning the beneficial ownership of sums on deposit in accounts

or payments made from accounts.



   (q) Set-off. Without qualifying any other statutory

right to set-off or lien and subject to any contractual provision, if a party

is indebted to a depository institution, the institution has a right to set-off

against the account. The amount of the account subject to set-off is the

proportion to which the party is, or immediately before death was, beneficially

entitled under subsection (g) or, in the absence of proof of that proportion,

an equal share with all parties.



History of Section.

(P.L. 2008, ch. 295, § 1.)