Grady v. Sheehan

Citations

• 256 Pa. 377
• 100 A. 950
• 1917 Pa. LEXIS 620

Syllabus

<p>\Wills — Banks and \banking — -Deposit in joint names — Agreement —Testamentary character — Death of one depositor — Gift inter vivos — Jurisdiction, O. G.</p> <p>1. Where a person deposits his own money in a savings fund in the joint names of himself and another under a stipulation that either may draw the fund, or the survivor may d;raw it, and the owner dies, the survivor of the two cannot, in the absence of any other evidence, establish title to the fund as a gift inter vivos.</p> <p>2. Where money was deposited in a savings fund in the joint names of the depositor and his sister, and at the same time a paper was lodged with the savings fund by the depositor stipulating, “either party to draw, and in case of death of either of them, the survivor shall have full power to withdraw the deposits as if the same had been duly transferred to such survivor......I hereby further declare that my intention in so doing is, that, in the event of my death, the said (sister, naming her) shall have full power to unconditionally withdraw the balance of said deposit and to absolutely possess and retain it for her own use and benefit. Provided, however, that so much of it as may be necessary for the purpose shall be applied to the payment of my lawful debts and the expenses incidental to my last illness and burial,” such paper is testamentary in character and the fund should pass to the administratrix for distribution through the Orphans’. Court; and in an action by the administratrix against such sister of the decedent for the recovery of such fund a verdict and judgment for the plaintiff will be sustained.</p>