Forehand v. Light
| Decision Date | 25 March 1970 |
| Docket Number | No. B--1885,B--1885 |
| Citation | 452 S.W.2d 709 |
| Parties | E. M. FOREHAND, Petitioner, v. Mary Poindexter LIGHT et vir, Respondents. |
| Court | Texas Supreme Court |
Kugle & Douglas, William H. Kugle, Jr., Athens, for petitioner.
Glusing & Sharpe, Nelson R. Sharpe, Kingsville, for respondents.
The question presented is that of ownership of two certificates of deposit which were issued by the Citizens State Bank of Malakoff, Texas and were made payable to the order of 'Mrs. J. B. Poindexter or Mary Light.' Mary Light, the daughter of Mrs. Poindexter, instituted this suit against E. M. Forehand, as executor of Mrs. Poindexter's estate, and joined the Citizens State Bank. She seeks a judgment that she owns the certificates and all of their proceeds as a donee third party beneficiary. This is the only issue presented to this court.
The trial court rendered judgment that Mary Light take nothing, but the court of civil appeals reversed that judgment and rendered judgment that Mary Light recover the proceeds of the certificates. 446 S.W.2d 355. We reverse the judgment of the court of civil appeals and affirm the judgment of the trial court.
The case was tried upon admissions and answers to interrogatories. The first certificate was dated December 28, 1967, and states:
'This certifies that Mrs. J. B. Poindexter has deposited in this Bank Twelve Hundred and 00/100 Dollars payable to the order of Mrs. J. B. Poindexter or Mary Light in current funds on the return of this Certificate properly endorsed 6 months after date with interest at the rate of 5 per cent per annum until maturity.'
The second certificate was dated January 9, 1968 and was due in twelve months but was otherwise identical to the first certificate. The settled facts are that Mrs. Poindexter furnished all of the funds for the certificates, that Mary Light is her daughter and that the certificates have been in the possession of the defendant executor since Mrs. Poindexter's death. There is no other writing or evidence which bears upon the nature of the relationship created.
Mary Light relies upon several decisions of this court for her contention that she was entitled to the proceeds of the certificates. This court has held, under the terms of certain contractual agreements, that a third party may be vested with a present, though defeasible, interest upon the completion of a contract for his benefit. We so held in Edds v. Mitchell, 143 Tex. 307, 184 S.W.2d 823, 158 A.L.R. 470 (1945) as to United States Savings Bonds which were 'payable to Julia E. Rhode and on her death to Retta B. Edds.' We upheld the rights of the survivor as a third party beneficiary in Davis v. East Texas Savings & Loan Association, 163 Tex. 361, 354 S.W.2d 926 (1962) upon proof that both payees signed the contract on a signature card for a savings certificate which was payable 'as joint tenants with rights of survivorship and not as tenants in common.' See 346 S.W.2d 178. We again so held in Quilter v. Wendland, 403 S.W.2d 335 (Tex.Sup.1966) because a savings association issued certificates and delivered passbooks for joint payees 'as joint tenants with right of survivorship and not as tenants in common.' Our refusal of a writ in Brown v. Lane, 383 S.W.2d 649 (Tex.Civ.App.1964, writ ref.), showed this court's approval of that decision. There we had the case of Helen Reib opening a joint savings account in her name and the name of Margaret Lane with both persons signing...
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Stauffer v. Henderson
...the word "survivor". See Quilter, 403 S.W.2d at 337-338. Absent some written reference to "survivor", the Court held in Forehand v. Light, 452 S.W.2d 709 (Tex.1970), that no presumption was invoked and suggested that a right of survivorship could not be established, even by extrinsic eviden......
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Carnes v. Meador
...This word alone does not give rise to a presumption of intention that the survivor should have title to the funds. Forehand v. Light, 452 S.W.2d 709, 710 (Tex.1970); Steinbach v. Kieke, 451 S.W.2d 956, 959 (Tex.Civ.App.--Houston (14th Dist.) 1970, no writ). Consequently, the trial court pro......
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Shields v. U.S. Nat. Bank of Oregon
...Estate, 136 Ohio St. 233, 24 N.E.2d 1020 (1940); Munday v. Federal National Bank, 195 Okl. 120, 155 P.2d 526 (1945); Forehand v. Light, 452 S.W.2d 709 (Tex.Sup.Ct.1970); Greener v. Greener, 116 Utah 471, 212 P.2d 194 (1949). See also, Reese v. First National Bank of Belleville, 196 S.W.2d 4......
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Wagenschein v. Ehlinger, NUMBER 13-17-00515-CV
...that the "survivors" of the Grantors—not the Grantors' respective heirs—are the beneficiaries of the reservation. See Forehand v. Light , 452 S.W.2d 709, 710 (Tex. 1970) (examining cases where the existence and usage of the word "survivor" was "vital" to the court's decision); see, e.g. , R......