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Questions of Fact Whether Name Added to Bank Account Created a Convenience Account or a Joint Tenancy with Right of Survivorship

The Fourth Department determined there was a question of fact whether plaintiff’s adding another’s (John’s) name to a bank account was done for convenience or to provide John with a right to the funds:

There is no dispute that the account in which the funds had been deposited was designated a joint account. The sole question is whether that account was a convenience account, in which case the money deposited therein would be considered “the sole property of [plaintiff]” and could not be used to satisfy a judgment against John (… see Banking Law § 678). Otherwise, if the account was a joint tenancy account with a right of survivorship or a tenancy in common account, John would be deemed to have “an ownership interest in one half of the moneys deposited therein” … . Defendant contends that, by placing John’s name on the bank account as a joint tenant, the account is presumed to be a joint tenancy account with a right of survivorship (see Banking Law § 675). We reject that contention. “Although the bank account is designated as joint,’ the account documents do not contain the necessary survivorship language, and thus the statutory presumption of a right of survivorship does not apply” … .

We agree with defendant that plaintiff failed to establish as a matter of law that she intended to create a convenience account (see Banking Law § 678), as opposed to either a joint tenancy account with right of survivorship (see § 675), or a tenancy in common account (see EPTL 6-2.2 [a]). …  Plaintiff stated that she added John’s name to the account because she was “fearful for [her] own safety” and “feared the risk of additional violence against [her].” Plaintiff wanted to make sure that, if anything happened to her, “the funds [would] be available for the welfare of [her] granddaughter.” Those statements seemingly establish that plaintiff “did not have a present intention to transfer an interest in the [money] to [John], despite having placed his name on the [account]” … . Moreover, John made no deposits or withdrawals to the account, which also supports plaintiff’s position that the account was opened as a matter of convenience only … .

Nevertheless, we conclude that plaintiff’s statements raise a triable issue of fact whether she intended John to have a right of survivorship in the joint tenancy account. …[W]hile the signature card’s reference to a document stating that rights of survivorship are created when obtaining a joint bank account is insufficient to invoke the statutory presumption of Banking Law § 675 … , it is a factor that may be considered when determining whether the bank account is a joint tenancy account with survivorship rights … . Sweetman v Suhr, 2015 NY Slip Op 02583, 4th Dept 3-27-15

 

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