Schneider's Estate, In re
Decision Date | 19 May 1954 |
Docket Number | Gen. No. 46143 |
Citation | 120 N.E.2d 353,2 Ill.App.2d 560 |
Parties | In re SCHNEIDER'S ESTATE. LINK v. RALSTON. |
Court | United States Appellate Court of Illinois |
A. Charles Ford, Chicago, Charles D. Snewind, Chicago, of counsel, for appellant.
Frank J. Link, Chicago, in pro. per.
Frank J. Link, executor of the estate of Edward Schneider, deceased, filed a petition in the Probate Court of Cook County alleging in substance that William M. Ralston is in possession of funds on deposit in the name of the deceased and Ralston in the North-West Federal Savings and Loan Association of Chicago, hereinafter called the 'Association,' and that Ralston has no valid claim to these funds. Pursuant to the prayer of the petition a citation was issued and upon a full hearing it was dismissed and the respondent Ralston was discharged. From that order the executor appealed to the Superior Court where after a trial de novo the court found that the funds in the Association were the property of the deceased and ordered Ralston to pay the funds to the executor. Ralston appeals.
May 10, 1952 Ralston and Schneider executed two identical agreements at the Association involving two savings accounts aggregating $5,850.81, which read:
'Type all names: ........ (Last Name) ........ (First Name) ........ (Middle Name)
'(1) /s/ Edward Schneider
'550 N. Mason Ave.
'Chicago 30
'(2) /s/ Wm. M. Ralston
'2456 Normandy
'Chicago 35'
An identical agreement was executed for Account No. 17435. Printed forms of the agreements were furnished by the Association.
The history of the transaction may be briefly stated. In response to a telephone call on May 10, 1952 from Schneider, Ralston went to Schneider's home and soon after one Emil Kohut, an old acquaintance, also came to the Schneider home. Schneider told Ralston that he was 'generally upset' and that he wanted Ralston's name on the savings accounts at the Association 'so that in case I am sick you can go and get the money for me.' Ralston suggested to Schneider that he place Kohut's name on one of the accounts, or put somebody else, if he could, in his (Ralston's) place. Kohut refused to 'become one of the joint signatures' on Schneider's accounts. According to Kohut's testimony, three or four weeks prior to May 10, 1952 Schneider, while visiting at the Kohut's home stated to Kohut
Ralston, who was called by the executor as an adverse witness, admitted that all of the money in the two accounts here in controversy was the sole and exclusive property of Schneider and that he never deposited any money in these accounts.
According to the allegations in the petition, shortly before the death of Schneider all of his property was bequeathed to his brother. No answer was filed to the petition in the Probate or the Superior court by Ralston or the Association. Objections were made to the testimony of Ralston and Kohut by the respondent. Rulings on the objections were reserved and later the testimony of these witnesses was received in evidence.
Respondent Ralston's contention is that the instruments in writing signed by the parties and accepted by the bank created a joint tenancy with the right of survivorship by virtue of the provisions of Chapter 76, Paragraph 2, sub-paragraphs a, b and c, Illinois Revised Statutes, and that the testimony of Ralston, an adverse witness, and Kohut should not have been received in evidence.
In Cuilini v. Northern Trust Company, 1948, 335 Ill.App. 86, 80 N.E.2d 275, involving the survivor's right to funds in joint accounts, the basic question presented was whether, in the absence of fraud, duress or mistake, parol evidence is competent to alter or modify the deposit contracts. We held that, where there is no ambiguity in the terms used, the instrument itself is the only criterion of the intentions of the parties and that the parol evidence upon which the plaintiff relied was inadmissible to modify the terms of the written agreement between the parties and the bank. In deciding Cuilini v. Northern Trust Company we considered Matthew v. Moncrief, 1943, 77 U.S.App.D.C. 221, 135 F.2d 695 as the best reasoned and most analogous. From a reaching of that case it appears that after a careful search and analysis of cases in many jurisdictions, including Illinois, the Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia, speaking through the late Justice Vinson...
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