Ownership of accounts at death of party, original payee, or trustee
Sec. 18. (a) 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 intention at the time the account is created. If there are
at least two (2) surviving parties, their respective ownerships during
lifetime are:
(1) in proportion to their previous ownership interests under
section 17 of this chapter; and
(2) augmented by an equal share for each survivor of any
interest the decedent may have owned in the account
immediately before the person's death.
The right of survivorship continues between the surviving parties.
(b) If the account is a P.O.D. account, on death of the original
payee or of the survivor of at least two (2) original payees, any sums
remaining on deposit belong to the P.O.D. payee or payees who
survive the original payee. If at least two (2) P.O.D. payees survive,
there is no right of survivorship between the P.O.D. payees unless
the terms of the account or deposit agreement expressly provide for
survivorship.
(c) If the account is a trust account, on death of the trustee or the
survivor of at least two (2) trustees, any sums remaining on deposit
belong to the person or persons named as beneficiaries who survive
the trustee, unless there is clear and convincing evidence of a
contrary intent. If at least two (2) beneficiaries survive, there is no
right of survivorship between the beneficiaries unless the terms of
the account or deposit agreement expressly provide for survivorship.
(d) Except as provided in subsections (a) through (c), the death of
any party to a multiple party account has no effect on beneficial
ownership of the account other than to transfer the rights of the
decedent as part of the decedent's estate.
(e) A right of survivorship arising:
(1) from the express terms of the account; or
(2) under:
(A) this section;
(B) a beneficiary designation in a trust account; or
(C) a P.O.D. payee designation;
cannot be changed by will.
As added by P.L.2-2002, SEC.2.
Last modified: May 24, 2006