2025 Session Last amended: 2013 session

§ 524.6-203 — Ownership During Lifetime

Plain-Language Summary

This section sets out who actually owns the funds in a multiple-party account while all the parties are still living. A joint account belongs to the parties in proportion to what each of them contributed to the balance, unless there is clear and convincing evidence that they intended a different split. A pay-on-death (P.O.D.) account belongs to the person who deposited the money during that person's lifetime, not to the named payee, and a person named only as an agent on an account has no ownership interest in the funds.

Practical Notes
This rule decides ownership disputes, not who can withdraw at the teller window. Putting someone else’s name on your account, or naming a P.O.D. beneficiary, does not give that person an ownership share of your money while you are alive, and being listed only as an agent (someone authorized to transact for you) gives no right to the money at all. Because the default is proportional to each person’s contributions, anyone who wants a different arrangement should be prepared to document that intent.