The decedent, using her own funds, opened a joint bank account wither her daughter. The signature card did not include the words “rights of survivorship,” but it did characterize the account as “joint.” When the decedent and her daughter opened the account, the bank gave them a form entitled “Disclosure of Personal Accounts.” The disclosure form listed two types of joint accounts, accounts opened with one owner’s signature where the co-owner signed the signature card later and accounts with rights of survivorship. Following the decedent’s death, the daughter pointed to the provisions of the disclosure form as evidence that the account was a joint account with rights of survivorship.
In Trust of McManus v. McManus, 18 A.3 550 (R.I. 2011) the Supreme Court of Rhode Island upheld summary judgment against the daughter, finding that though the disclosure form identified the account as a joint account with rights of survivorship, the survivorship rights were never created because the signature card was not signed.
Special thanks to William LaPiana (Professor of Law, New York Law School) for bringing this case to my attention.
