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institution.4
We conclude that the protections accorded to Seafirst Bank
under the Act with respect to the withdrawals represented by the
November 1995 checks and the January 1996 checks that were signed
by either Mr. Christensen or Ms. Hastie as a joint account holder
of the Seafirst joint account had no bearing on the actual rights
4Assuming arguendo that we were to have concluded that the
meaning of the term “deposited funds” in Wash. Rev. Code Ann.
sec. 30.22.130 (West 1986) (RCWA 30.22.130) is the same as the
meaning of the terms “‘Depositor’s funds’ or ‘funds of a deposi-
tor’” in Wash. Rev. Code Ann. sec. 30.22.040(13) (West 1986)
(RCWA 30.22.040(13)), we nonetheless reject the position of the
estate that RCWA 30.22.130 “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
[Seafirst joint] account and would * * * exclude funds which had
been withdrawn from the joint account by the Gift Checks”. RCWA
30.22.040(13) defines the terms “‘Depositor’s funds’ or ‘funds of
a depositor’” as follows:
30.22.040. Definitions
(13) “Depositor’s funds” or “funds of a depositor”
means the amount of all deposits belonging to or made
for the benefit of a depositor, less all withdrawals of
the funds by the depositor or by others for the deposi-
tor’s benefit, plus the depositor’s prorated share of
any interest or dividends included in the current
balance of the account and any proceeds of deposit life
insurance added to the account by reason of the death
of a depositor.
Contrary to the estate’s contention, the definition of the terms
“‘Depositor’s funds’ or ‘funds of a depositor’” does not exclude
all funds that would have been withdrawn from an account in a
financial institution. The definition of those terms excludes
only those withdrawals “by the depositor or by others for the
depositor’s benefit”. RCWA 30.22.040(13). None of the November
1995 checks and the January 1996 checks represented a withdrawal
of decedent’s funds in the Seafirst joint account “by the deposi-
tor [decedent] or by others for the depositor’s [decedent’s]
benefit”. RCWA 30.22.040(13).
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