As used in this article, unless the context requires a different meaning:

Terms Used In Virginia Code 6.2-604

  • Account: means a contract of deposit of funds between a depositor and a financial institution, and includes a checking account, savings account, certificate of deposit, share account, and other similar arrangements. See Virginia Code 6.2-604
  • Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. Source: OCC
  • Beneficiary: means a person named in a trust account as one for whom a party to the account is named as trustee. See Virginia Code 6.2-604
  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
  • Decedent: A deceased person.
  • Entity: means any corporation, partnership, association, cooperative, limited liability company, trust, joint venture, government, political subdivision, or other legal or commercial entity. See Virginia Code 6.2-100
  • Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
  • Fiduciary: shall include any one or more of the following: (i) a fiduciary as defined in § 8. See Virginia Code 6.2-604
  • Fiduciary account: means (i) an estate account for a decedent, (ii) an account established by one or more agents under a power of attorney or an existing account of a principal to which one or more agents under a power of attorney are added, (iii) an account established by one or more conservators, (iv) an account established by one or more committees, (v) a regular trust account under a testamentary trust or a trust agreement that has significance apart from the account, or (vi) an account arising from a fiduciary relationship such as an attorney-client relationship. See Virginia Code 6.2-604
  • Financial institution: means any entity authorized to do business under state or federal laws relating to financial institutions that is authorized to establish accounts, including, without limitation, banks, trust companies, savings institutions, and credit unions. See Virginia Code 6.2-604
  • Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
  • Includes: means includes, but not limited to. See Virginia Code 1-218
  • Joint account: means an account payable on request to one or more of two or more parties whether or not mention is made of any right of survivorship. See Virginia Code 6.2-604
  • Multiple-party account: means any of the following types of account: (i) a joint account, (ii) a P. See Virginia Code 6.2-604
  • Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
  • Party: means a person who, by the terms of the account, has a present right, subject to request, to payment from a multiple-party account, including a fiduciary account. See Virginia Code 6.2-604
  • Person: means any individual, corporation, partnership, association, cooperative, limited liability company, trust, joint venture, government, political subdivision, or other legal or commercial entity. See Virginia Code 6.2-100
  • Personal representative: includes the executor of a will or the administrator of the estate of a decedent, the administrator of such estate with the will annexed, the administrator of such estate unadministered by a former representative, whether there is a will or not, any person who is under the order of a circuit court to take into his possession the estate of a decedent for administration, and every other curator of a decedent's estate, for or against whom suits may be brought for causes of action that accrued to or against the decedent. See Virginia Code 1-234
  • Power of attorney: A written instrument which authorizes one person to act as another's agent or attorney. The power of attorney may be for a definite, specific act, or it may be general in nature. The terms of the written power of attorney may specify when it will expire. If not, the power of attorney usually expires when the person granting it dies. Source: OCC
  • Request: means a proper request for withdrawal, or a check or order for payment, that complies with all conditions of the account, including special requirements concerning necessary signatures and regulations of the financial institution. See Virginia Code 6.2-604
  • Right of survivorship: The ownership rights that result in the acquisition of title to property by reason of having survived other co-owners.
  • State: when applied to a part of the United States, includes any of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the United States Virgin Islands. See Virginia Code 1-245
  • Sums on deposit: means the balance payable on a multiple-party account, including a fiduciary account, including interest, dividends, and in addition any deposit life insurance proceeds added to the account by reason of the death of a party. See Virginia Code 6.2-604
  • Trust account: A general term that covers all types of accounts in a trust department, such as estates, guardianships, and agencies. Source: OCC
  • Trust account: means an account in the name of one or more parties as trustee for one or more beneficiaries where the relationship is established by the form of the account and the deposit agreement with the financial institution and there is no subject of the trust other than the sums on deposit in the account, without regard to whether payment to the beneficiary is mentioned in the deposit agreement. See Virginia Code 6.2-604
  • Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
  • Withdrawal: includes payment to a third person pursuant to check or other directive of a party. See Virginia Code 6.2-604

“Account” means a contract of deposit of funds between a depositor and a financial institution, and includes a checking account, savings account, certificate of deposit, share account, and other similar arrangements.

“Beneficiary” means a person named in a trust account as one for whom a party to the account is named as trustee.

“Fiduciary” shall include any one or more of the following: (i) a fiduciary as defined in § 8.01-2, (ii) an agent under a power of attorney, or (iii) an attorney acting under an attorney-client relationship.

“Fiduciary account” means (i) an estate account for a decedent, (ii) an account established by one or more agents under a power of attorney or an existing account of a principal to which one or more agents under a power of attorney are added, (iii) an account established by one or more conservators, (iv) an account established by one or more committees, (v) a regular trust account under a testamentary trust or a trust agreement that has significance apart from the account, or (vi) an account arising from a fiduciary relationship such as an attorney-client relationship. “Fiduciary account” does not include a trust account.

“Financial institution” means any entity authorized to do business under state or federal laws relating to financial institutions that is authorized to establish accounts, including, without limitation, banks, trust companies, savings institutions, and credit unions.

“Joint account” means an account payable on request to one or more of two or more parties whether or not mention is made of any right of survivorship.

“Multiple-fiduciary account” means a fiduciary account where more than one fiduciary is authorized to act.

“Multiple-party account” means any of the following types of account: (i) a joint account, (ii) a P.O.D. account, or (iii) a trust account. The term does not include accounts established for deposit of funds of a partnership, joint venture, or other association for business purposes, or accounts controlled by one or more persons as the duly authorized agent or trustee for a corporation, unincorporated association, or charitable or civic organization.

“Net contribution” of a party to a joint account as of any given time is the sum of all deposits thereto made by or for him, less all withdrawals made by or for him which have not been paid to or applied to the use of any other party, plus a pro rata share of any interest or any dividends included in the current balance. The term includes, in addition, any proceeds of deposit life insurance added to the account by reason of the death of the party whose net contribution is in question.

“Party” means a person who, by the terms of the account, has a present right, subject to request, to payment from a multiple-party account, including a fiduciary account. The term includes a P.O.D. payee or beneficiary of a trust account only after the account becomes payable to him by reason of his surviving the original payee or trustee. The term includes a guardian, conservator, personal representative, or assignee, including an attaching creditor, of a party. The term also includes a person identified as a trustee of an account for another whether or not a beneficiary is named, but it does not include any named beneficiary unless he has a present right of withdrawal.

“Payment,” with respect to sums on deposit, includes withdrawal, payment on check or other directive of a party, and any pledge of sums on deposit by a party and any setoff, or reduction or other disposition of all or part of an account pursuant to a pledge.

“P.O.D. account” means an account payable on request to one person during his lifetime and on his death to one or more P.O.D. payees, or to one or more persons during their lifetimes and on the death of all of them to one or more P.O.D. payees.

“P.O.D. payee” means a person designated on a P.O.D. account as one to whom the account is payable on request after the death of one or more persons.

“Proof of death” includes a death certificate; a certificate of qualification upon a decedent’s estate; or an authenticated copy of any record or report of a governmental agency, domestic or foreign, that a person is dead.

“Request” means a proper request for withdrawal, or a check or order for payment, that complies with all conditions of the account, including special requirements concerning necessary signatures and regulations of the financial institution. If the financial institution conditions withdrawal or payment on advance notice, for purposes of this article the request for withdrawal or payment is treated as immediately effective and a notice of intent to withdraw is treated as a request for withdrawal.

“Sums on deposit” means the balance payable on a multiple-party account, including a fiduciary account, including interest, dividends, and in addition any deposit life insurance proceeds added to the account by reason of the death of a party.

“Trust account” means an account in the name of one or more parties as trustee for one or more beneficiaries where the relationship is established by the form of the account and the deposit agreement with the financial institution and there is no subject of the trust other than the sums on deposit in the account, without regard to whether payment to the beneficiary is mentioned in the deposit agreement. The term does not include a fiduciary account.

“Withdrawal” includes payment to a third person pursuant to check or other directive of a party.

1979, c. 407, § 6.1-125.1; 2010, c. 794; 2020, c. 259.