Doran v. Gainer, 83-498
| Decision Date | 12 January 1984 |
| Docket Number | No. 83-498,83-498 |
| Citation | 443 So.2d 473 |
| Parties | Dorothy DORAN and Mary Adams, Appellants/Cross-Appellees, v. Carol GAINER, individually and as Personal Representative of the Estate of Holly E. Gainer, Appellee/Cross-Appellant. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Ronald W. Sikes of Welbaum, Zook, Jones & Williams, Orlando, for appellants/cross-appellees.
John M. Starling of Crofton, Holland, Starling, Harris & Severs, P.A., Titusville, for appellee/cross-appellant.
This appeal concerns the disposition of joint savings accounts in two separate financial institutions, a federal savings and loan and a state bank.
Carol Gainer was appointed personal representative of the estate of her father, Holly Gainer. Carol Gainer's sisters, appellants Dorothy Doran and Mary Adams, filed an objection to the amended inventory filed by Carol and a petition for determination of ownership of assets. Both motions claimed that certain certificates of deposit, money market funds and savings accounts held in the joint names of the decedent, Holly Gainer, and Carol Gainer, and not included in the inventory, were estate property, intended to be divided equally among the sisters pursuant to the residuary clause of Holly Gainer's will. The monies in controversy had been placed by Holly Gainer in two separate financial institutions, the Merritt Square Bank (Bank) and the First Federal Savings & Loan Association (Federal), with a total of some $55,000 in the former and some $45,000 in the latter. 1 Doran and Adams sought to have an amended inventory filed in the estate, and asked the court to require that the funds be turned over to the estate for distribution. Carol Gainer filed a response to the motions, claiming that the monies were held jointly with the right of survivorship and, as such, were not required to be part of the inventory or amended inventory.
Following a nonjury trial, the trial judge entered an order determining that although he found the intent of the decedent was to divide the money equally, only those monies in the Bank account were to become estate property, with the proceeds from the Federal accounts to remain with Carol Gainer. The trial judge based this decision on the distinction between the statutory provisions of section 658.56, Florida Statutes (1981), pertaining to banks, and section 665.063(1), Florida Statutes (1981), pertaining to savings and loan associations.
Doran and Adams filed a motion for rehearing, contending that the statutes violated their constitutional rights by denying them due process and equal protection of the law. The trial court denied the motion for rehearing and found that the statutory provisions did not violate any constitutional provision. In a motion for clarification, the appellants sought to clarify the trial court's order regarding the amount of interest Gainer was required to pay to the estate from the Merritt Square Bank account. The court granted the motion for clarification, and ordered that Gainer pay the total amount of interest actually earned on the account that she had to turn over to the estate. Doran and Adams timely filed a notice of appeal and Carol Gainer filed her notice of cross-appeal.
The appellants, Dorothy Doran and Mary Adams, contend the trial court erred in finding that the monies in the Federal, despite Holly Gainer's intent to the contrary, were to go solely to Carol Gainer. Two statutes are involved in the issues presented by this appeal--section 665.063(1), Florida Statutes (1981) (previously section 665.271), which applies to savings and loan associations, and section 658.56, Florida Statutes (1981) (previously section 659.291), which applies to banks. These provisions are as follows:
665.063 Additional accounts.--
(1) ACCOUNTS IN TWO OR MORE NAMES.--
(a) When a savings account, other than a convenience account, is held in any association or federal association in the names of two or more persons, whether minor or adult, in such form that the moneys in the account are payable to either or the survivor or survivors, then, in the absence of fraud or undue influence, such account and all additions thereto shall be the property of such persons as joint tenants. The opening of the account in such form shall, in the absence of fraud or undue influence, be conclusive evidence in any action or proceeding to which either the association or the survivor or survivors is a party of the intention of all of the parties to the account to vest title to such account and the additions thereto in such survivor or survivors. The association shall not be subject to any liability for fraud or undue influence if it complies with the provisions of this paragraph. [Emphasis added.]
* * *
* * *
658.56 Deposits and accounts in two or more names; presumption as to vesting on death.--
(1) Unless otherwise expressly provided in the signature contract card or other similar instrument delivered to and accepted by a bank in connection with the opening or maintenance of an account, including a certificate of deposit, in the names of two or more persons, whether minor or adult, payable to or on the order of one or more of them or the surviving account holder or holders, all such persons and each person depositing funds in any such account shall be presumed to have intended that upon the death of any such person all rights, title, interest, and claim in, to, and in respect of such deposits and account and the additions threto, and the obligation of the bank created thereby, less all proper setoffs and charges in favor of the bank, shall vest in the surviving account holder or holders.
(2) The presumption herein created may be overcome only by proof of fraud or undue influence or clear and convincing proof of a contrary intent. In the absence of such proof, all rights, title, interest, and claims in, to, and in respect of such deposits and account and the additions thereto, and the obligation of the bank created thereby, less all proper setoffs and charges in favor of the bank against any one or more of such persons, shall, upon the death of any such person, vest in the surviving account holder or holders, notwithstanding the absence of proof of any donative intent or delivery, possession, dominion, control, or acceptance on the part of any person and notwitstanding that the provisions hereof may constitute or cause a vesting or disposition of property or rights or interests therein, testamentary in nature, which except for the provisions of this section, would or might otherwise be void or voidable.
(3) Nothing herein contained shall abridge, impair, or affect the validity, effectiveness, or operation of any of the provisions of ss.658.55 and 674.405 or the rights of banks to make payments as therein provided. [Emphasis added.]
The trial court in the instant case determined that, while the presumption found in section 658.56 was overcome by the evidence adduced, such a finding was not material to the question of the Federal accounts, since the accounts were clearly held as a joint tenancy with right of survivorship, and neither fraud nor undue influence was alleged or proven. Doran and Adams contend on appeal that the statutes apply only to protect the Federal as against liability, with the intent of the settlor remaining the prime consideration. Gainer, on the other hand, argues that the statute clearly provides for survivorship rights and that the signature cards in this case clearly show a provision for survivorship.
Several Florida cases have addressed the issue of the impact of section 665.271, although none has expressly stated that the intent of the deceased is irrelevant. In Teasley v. Blankenberg, 298 So.2d 431 (Fla. 4th DCA 1974), the decedent and the defendant had two savings and loan accounts and a commercial bank checking account. Upon the decedent's death, the defendant withdrew the balance of the accounts, and the personal representative of the decedent's estate filed suit to recover. The trial court determined the funds to be the property of the defendant, and the Fourth District affirmed. The court noted that one of the savings and loan accounts was opened as a joint account with right of survivorship, but that the other was a joint account without any evidence that expressly provided for the right of survivorship. The court held that both accounts were governed by section 665.271, Florida Statutes (1971) (). The court rejected the appellant's argument that the statute would not apply to the account where there was no evidence as to the right of survivorship, by finding that the account was under the savings and loan rules and regulations, thus falling within the statute. The court did not discuss any question of intent or rebuttable presumption in the savings and loan account, but did address that issue in regard to the bank account, finding that there was an absence of clear and convincing evidence to show a contrary intent to that of survivorship.
In Gentzel v. Estate of Buchanan, 419 So.2d 366 (Fla. 1st DCA 1982), review denied, 426 So.2d 26 (Fla.1983), the appellant appealed from a trial court order determining that several savings accounts, including a savings and loan account, which were in her name and that of her father, were probatable assets that should pass under the will rather than to the appellant, the surviving account holder. The trial court determined that the joint accounts were really the property of the decedent, and that the decedent's intention was clearly shown by the evidence. The appellant contended that the trial court erred by failing to apply section 665.271 to the savings and loan account, and section 659.291 to the bank account. The First District disagreed and affirmed. The appellate court agreed that the presumption in section 659.291 was...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Wiggins v. Parson
...credit union the withdrawal was not wrongful because under the depository agreement and statutory authority (see Doran v. Gainer, 443 So.2d 473 (Fla. 5th DCA 1984)) any one joint tenant was authorized to make the withdrawal. Although legally Cooper had made a completed gift of the joint acc......
-
Estate of Gainer, In re
...for appellees. ALDERMAN, Justice. Carol Gainer appeals the decision of the District Court of Appeal, Fifth District, in Doran v. Gainer, 443 So.2d 473 (Fla. 5th DCA 1984), that reversed the trial court and held that section 665.063(1)(a), Florida Statutes (1981), is unconstitutional under t......
- Wilson v. State, 84-1239
-
Rosecrans v. Eden
...as to whether there are rights of survivorship as between joint tenants has been rejected by this court in Doran v. Gainer, 443 So.2d 473, 477 (Fla. 5th DCA 1984), rev'd in part on other grounds, 466 So.2d 1055 (Fla.1985). Eden's alternative allegation is that if the presumption of survivor......