Estate of Floy M. Christensen - Page 18




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               In further support of its position that RCWA 30.22.130 does            
          not apply to the November 1995 checks and the January 1996                  
          checks, the estate contends that                                            
               the term deposited funds as used in RCW 30.22.130 is                   
               defined in RCW 30.22.040(13) to be the funds on deposit                
               with the financial institution less any withdrawals.                   
               Thus, Respondent’s reliance upon RCW 30.22.130 is                      
               inappropriate since it only preserves rights as between                
               Floy Christensen and her children as to the ownership                  
               of the deposited funds, which by definition are those                  
               funds remaining in the account and would, therefore,                   
               exclude funds which had been withdrawn from the joint                  
               account by the Gift Checks.                                            
               We reject the estate’s contention that the term “deposited             
          funds” in RCWA 30.22.130 does not include funds withdrawn from              
          the Seafirst joint account by the November 1995 checks and the              
          January 1996 checks.  The term “deposited funds” that appears in            
          RCWA 30.22.130 is not defined, as the estate asserts, in Wash.              
          Rev. Code Ann. sec. 30.22.040(13) (West 1986) (RCWA                         
          30.22.040(13)).  Instead, RCWA 30.22.040(13) defines the terms              
          “‘Depositor’s funds’ or ‘funds of a depositor’”.                            
               Although not defined in the Act, we conclude that the term             
          “deposited funds” that appears in RCWA 30.22.130 is not suscepti-           
          ble to more than one reasonable interpretation.  See State of               
          Wash. v. Azpitarte, 995 P.2d 31, 33 (Wash. 2000).  The only                 
          reasonable interpretation of the term “deposited funds” in RCWA             
          30.22.130 is funds on deposit with (i.e., placed in) a financial            









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