ENROLLED

COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE

FOR

H. B. 2250
(By Delegates Williams, Carper, Phillips,

H. White, Rutledge and Harrison)


[Passed April 7, 1993; in effect ninety days from passage.]




AN ACT to amend and reenact section thirty-three, article four, chapter thirty-one-a of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to joint deposit accounts; payment, pledge or garnishment of joint accounts; notice requirements; limitation on liability of banking institutions; and rules to be promulgated by the commissioner.

 Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section thirty-three, article four, chapter thirty-one- a of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty- one, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
§31A-4-33. Deposits in trust; deposits in more than one name; limitation on liability of institutions making payments from certain accounts; notice requirements; pledges or garnishment of joint accounts; commissioner to promulgate rules.

(a) If any deposit in any banking institution be made by any person describing himself in making such deposit as trustee for another, and no other or further notice of the existence and terms of a legal and valid trust than such description shall begiven in writing to the banking institution, in the event of the death of the person so described as trustee, such deposit, or any part thereof, together with the interest thereon, may be paid to the person for whom the deposit was thus stated to have been made.
(b) When a deposit is made by any person in the name of such depositor and another or others and in form to be paid to any one of such depositors, or the survivor or survivors of them, such deposit, and any additions thereto, made by any of such persons, upon the making thereof, shall become the property of such persons as joint tenants. All such deposits, together with all interest thereon, shall be held for the exclusive use of the persons so named, and may be paid to any one of them during the lifetime of them, or to the survivor or survivors after the death of any of them.
(c) Payment to any joint depositor and the receipt or the acquittance of the one to whom such payment is made shall be a valid and sufficient release and discharge for all payments made on account of such deposit, prior to the receipt by the banking institution of notice in writing, signed by any one of such joint tenants not to pay such deposit in accordance with the terms thereof. Prior to the receipt of such notice no banking institution shall be liable for the payment of such sums.
(d) All owners of joint deposit accounts created pursuant to this section shall be given written notice on a form to be approved by the banking commissioner that the entire balance of any such account may be paid to a creditor or other claimant of any one of the joint tenants pursuant to legal process,including, but not limited to, garnishment, suggestion, or execution, regardless of the receipt of any notice from any of the joint tenants. Such notice shall also advise the owners of a joint deposit account that the entire balance of any such account may be paid to any of the named joint tenants at any time; pledged as security to a banking institution by any of the named joint tenants; or otherwise encumbered at the request of any of the named joint tenants unless written notice is given to the banking institution, signed by any one of the joint tenants, not to permit such payment, pledge or encumbrance.
(e) If a pledge or encumbrance of any joint account created pursuant to this section is made to a banking institution and the banking institution has not received, prior to the date of the pledge, any written notice signed by any one of the joint tenants prohibiting such a pledge or encumbrance, the banking institution shall not be liable to any one of the joint tenants for its recourse against the deposit in accordance with the terms of the pledge.
(f) A banking institution may pay the entire amount of a deposit account created pursuant to this section to a creditor or other claimant of any one of the joint tenants in response to legal process employed by the creditor including, but not limited to, garnishment, suggestion, or execution, regardless of any notice received from any of the joint tenants. Upon such payment, the banking institution shall be released and discharged from all payments on account of such deposit: Provided, That payment by a banking institution to any such creditor shall be without prejudice to any right or claim of any joint tenantagainst the creditor or any other person to recover his interest in the deposit.
(g) The commissioner shall promulgate rules in accordance with the provisions of chapter twenty-nine-a of this code regarding the approval of forms and procedures required by this section.