Placencia v. Strazicich (2019) _______ CA4th _______
"In 1985, Ralph opened what the parties refer to as the Franklin Fund account with an initial deposit of $140,000. Lisa was listed as a co-owner. Lisa's counsel states the paperwork submitted to open the account specifies that it is a joint account with right of survivorship, though the copy in the record is almost entirely illegible. Regardless, Stephanie stipulated that the account was opened as a joint tenancy with right of survivorship. Moreover, an account statement from 2009 addressed to Ralph and Lisa bore the acronym "JT WROS," which appears to stand for joint tenants with right of survivorship.
Lisa, who was 23 years old at the time, had no involvement in opening the fund. Ralph told Lisa that he put her on the Franklin Fund, but never had any other discussion with her about it. Lisa never deposited money into the account, all of which, to Lisa's knowledge, came from Ralph. Lisa never withdrew money from the account during Ralph's lifetime. The account paid dividends, which Ralph took during his lifetime.
Ralph passed away in December 2009. In the months leading up to his death, Ralph had a number of conversations with Henry Rivera, his brother-in-law, which resulted in Henry assisting Ralph to prepare a will and trust, which Ralph executed approximately 11 days before his death. His will left specific directions as to the Franklin Fund account: "Remove Lisa Strazicich as sole beneficiary of my Franklin Fund. I want the beneficiaries to be Lisa Strazicich, Stephanie A. Placencia and Tina R. Placencia, my three daughters. I want the Franklin Fund to be placed into my trust fund and then be used to pay off the mortgage of my home in Huntington Beach, CA." Henry confirmed that Ralph specifically made these requests in their conversations."
The general rule is that "sums remaining on deposit at the death of a party to a joint account belong to the surviving party or parties as against the estate of the decedent unless there is clear and convincing evidence of a different intent." Probate Code §5302(a). Moreover, "a right of survivorship arising from the express terms of the account or under this section, a beneficiary designation in a Totten trust account, or a P.O.D. payee designation, cannot be changed by will."
Ultimately the Court of Appeal ruled that Ralph's will negated the right of survivorship and the account should be part of his probate estate, as opposed to being distributed to his daughter, the surviving joint account holder.
