Maurice v. Coleman

NOURSE, P. J. The plaintiff sues as administrator of the estate of Josie Hutton to recover moneys alleged to belong to the estate. The defendant had judgment.

The moneys claimed were the subject of a joint bank account opened by Mrs. Hutton a few months before her death and comprised moneys belonging entirely to the separate estate of the deceased. The account was opened by the deceased upon her special request with the aid of an official of the bank. Sums were periodically drawn by the defendant during the lifetime of the deceased and a balance of $417.58 remained at the time of her death. Claiming her right as sole survivor the defendant withdrew this sum and deposited it to her own account. The trial court found that the joint account was opened by Mrs. Hutton freely and voluntarily, that all moneys withdrawn from the account prior to her death were expended and disposed of with her [341]consent, and that the balance remaining at the time of her death became the property of defendant as sole survivor.

In appealing from the judgment the plaintiff states the question involved as follows: “As a matter of law can a joint tenancy be established without the knowledge, the intent, the consent, or understanding of the party to whom the res belonged, where said party owner retains directional control over the res.”

We cannot find that any such question arises here, or that any of the premises upon which it rests come out of this record. The evidence clearly shows that the owner of the “res” had the knowledge, the intent, and the understanding that she was creating a joint account, and that she gave her express consent to the transaction. The evidence also shows that she did not retain directional control over the fund, but that she did request her joint tenant to use so much of the fund as she deemed necessary in paying for her maintenance and care and for funeral and burial expenses. We do not understand that because the defendant complied with these requests, in part at least, her rights as a joint tenant were thereby affected, and we do not understand how her failure to prove that all the moneys withdrawn by her were used for the care, maintenance, and burial of the deceased can have any bearing upon the question of law involved—which is simply whether a joint tenancy was created in accordance with the statute. For these reasons we will not discuss appellant’s attacks upon the findings of fact. The decision should be confined to this question of law.