Burns v. Paquin

• Citation: 187 N.E.2d 139,345 Mass. 329
• Parties: Isabella BURNS v. Elizabeth PAQUIN et al.
• Decision Date: 10 January 1963
• Court: United States State Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts Supreme Court

Page 139

187 N.E.2d 139

345 Mass. 329

Isabella BURNS v. Elizabeth PAQUIN et al.

Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, Bristol.

Argued Dec. 5, 1962.

Decided Jan. 10, 1963.

William A. Torphy, Fall River, for plaintiff.

John J. Harrington, Fall River, for Elizabeth Paquin.

Before WILKINS, C. J., and WHITTEMORE, CUTTER, KIRK and SPIEGEL, JJ.

CUTTER, Justice.

By this bill in equity Mrs. Burns seeks to compel Mrs. Paquin to turn over to her a savings bank book and to require the defendant Union Savings Bank to pay to her the proceeds of the savings account. The trial judge ordered that a final decree be entered in accordance with the prayers in the bill. From the final decree, Mrs. Paquin appealed. The evidence is reported.

The trial judge found the following material facts. Mrs. Burns had lived, from the age of nine months until she was seven, with Mrs. Irene Downey, who was not related to her. Sarah Moss, Mrs. Downey's aunt, lived in the household. Mrs. Downey then had a davings bank account in her name and that of Sarah Moss. ¹ After Mrs. Moss's death, Mrs. Burns, on February 8, 1957, 'at the request of Mrs. Downey, with whom she had kept a close relationship over the years, went to the * * * bank * * * [with] Mrs. Downey.' The account was then altered so that it would be paid to Mrs. Burns in the event of Mrs. Downey's death. At the same time, Mrs. Downey signed a statement to the bank 'that no written trust exists, and that said deposit and its dividends are payable to me on my order during my life, and after my death * * * Isabella Burns and not to my' personal representative.

In 1958 Mrs. Downey became ill. Mrs. Burns had her admitted to a hospital and visited her each day during the three months of her stay. In March, 1959, Mrs Downey was living at the house of Mrs. Paquin (who testified that she was Mrs. Downey's first cousin). Mrs. Burns continued to call on Mrs. Downey and to do errands for her. Mrs. Downey asked Mrs. Burns 'if it was all right for her to allow [Mrs.] Paquin to withdraw money from the trust account as a matter of convenience.' Thereafter Mrs. Paquin discovered from an officer of the bank that it would be necessary for Mrs. Downey to 'sign a withdrawal slip each time she desired to withdraw any funds.' Mrs. Downey indicated that she would prefer another arrangement because '[s]he didn't want to be bothered with that all the time.' On March 6, 1959, 'the [bank] officer arranged for the transfer of the trust account of Mrs. Downey for the benefit of [Mrs.] Burns to 'a joint account in the name of Irene Downey or Elizabeth Paquin.' The officer made no explanation to Mrs. Downey as to the right of survivorship to a joint account.'

Mrs. Downey later in 1959 went to the hospital again. She died there on December 10, 1959. During the second hospital stay, Mrs. Burns continued to call on her and did errands for her. Two withdrawals of $150 each from the account were made by Mrs. Paquin prior to Mrs. Downey's death and two withdrawals were made by Mrs. Paquin thereafter.

The trial judge concluded that Mrs. Downey's illness led her 'for the sole purpose of avoiding inconvenience on the part of [Mrs.] Burns, who was a working woman, * * * [to sign] the order of March 6, 1959, purportedly to establish a joint account with [Mrs.] Paquin.' The judge added that there was 'evidence that leads the [c]ourt to believe that this action * * * was due to influence exerted by [Mrs.] Paquin and was not the free act of Mrs. Downey, who only wanted a convenient method of withdrawing funds if * * * occasion demanded.'

1. The judge's intimation that there was evidence of influence by Mrs. Paquin was not justified. We perceive no basis in the evidence for drawing such an inference and treat it as out of the case.

2. It was permissible to prove by oral evidence that the joint deposit, shown upon the records of the bank, was created only as a matter of convenience and did not constitute, as between Mrs. Downey and Mrs. Paquin, a completed gift. See Drain v. Brookline Sav. Bank, 327 Mass. 435, 441, 99 N.E.2d 160; Gaucher v. Planeta, 338 Mass. 121, 124, 153 N.E.2d 895. See also Corkum v. Salvation Army of Mass. Inc., 340 Mass. 165, 167-168, 162 N.E.2d 778; Scott, Trusts (2d ed.) § 58.6. The judge was justified in concluding upon the evidence that the joint account was set up only for convenience, even though (a) the withdrawal of the trust account on March 6, 1959, was stated by the written withdrawal order to be 'for the purpose of transferring this account to a joint account in the names of Irene Downey or Elizabeth Paquin,' and (b) the new joint account was issued in the form 'Elizabeth V. Paquin or Irene G. Downey.' In the circumstances, that Mrs. Paquin...