In re Estate of Wilson, 213 S.W.3d 491 (Tex. App.—Tyler 2006, pet. denied).
Both the trial and appellate courts agreed that signature cards
marked with an “X” next to the designation “Joint with Right of
Survivorship” and which referred to a deposit agreement stating the
“when a co-owner dies, the balance in the account belongs to the
surviving co-owner(s)” was sufficient to imbue the accounts with the
survivorship feature. Although the signature cards did not use the exact
“safe harbor” wording of Probate Code § 439(a), the appellate court held
that the language was in substantial compliance.
Moral: To avoid problems, financial institutions should follow the
statutory safe harbor language when creating multiple-party accounts and
give serious consideration to using the statutory form in Probate Code
439A.
Several bank accounts were listed in the decedent’s inventory which
the trial court approved. Later, a claim was made that the accounts had
survivorship rights and were not part of the decedent’s estate. The
appellate court rejected the argument that the survivor was precluded
from attempting to establish her ownership. The court explained that “an
order of a probate court approving an inventory and appraisement is not
an adjudication of title to property.”
Moral: The listing of property in an estate inventory, even if court
approved, will not prevent others from asserting a superior right of
ownership.