Wisconsin Statutes 705.06 – Protection of financial institutions
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Terms Used In Wisconsin Statutes 705.06
- Account: means a contract of deposit of funds between a depositor and a financial institution, and includes a checking or savings account, certificate of deposit, share account and other like arrangement. See Wisconsin Statutes 705.01
- Agent: means a person who, by the terms of an account, has a present right, subject to request, to payment therefrom as agent for all of the parties to the account. See Wisconsin Statutes 705.01
- 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
- Financial institution: means any organization authorized to do business under state or federal laws relating to financial institutions, including, without limitation, banks and trust companies, savings banks, building and loan associations, savings and loan associations and credit unions. See Wisconsin Statutes 705.01
- Joint account: means an account, other than a marital account, payable on request to one or more of 2 or more parties whether or not mention is made of any right of survivorship. See Wisconsin Statutes 705.01
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Marital account: means an account established without the right of survivorship on or after January 1, 1986, by 2 parties who claim to be husband and wife, which is payable on request to either or both of the parties and which is designated as a marital account. See Wisconsin Statutes 705.01
- party: includes a guardian, conservator, personal representative or assignee, including an attaching creditor, of a party. See Wisconsin Statutes 705.01
- Personal representative: means a person, however denominated, who is authorized to administer a decedent's estate. See Wisconsin Statutes 990.01
- Request: means a proper request for withdrawal, or a check or other order for payment, which complies with all conditions of the account, including special requirements concerning necessary signatures and regulations of the financial institution. See Wisconsin Statutes 705.01
- Sums on deposit: means the balance payable on a multiple-party account including interest, dividends, and any deposit life insurance proceeds added to the account by reason of the death of a party. See Wisconsin Statutes 705.01
(1) In accordance with the terms of an account, and subject to this subchapter, ch. 112 and the duties prescribed for personal representatives in ch. 72 and unless otherwise ordered by a court of competent jurisdiction:
(a) A financial institution may on request pay any sums on deposit in the account to any party or agent; and the financial institution shall not be required to look into the source of funds received for deposit or the proposed application of any funds withdrawn or requested to be withdrawn.
(b) Any sums in a joint account may be paid, on request, to any party without regard to whether any other party is under legal disability or is deceased at the time the payment is requested.
(c) Any sums in a P.O.D. account may be paid, on request, to the P.O.D. beneficiary upon presentation to the financial institution of proof of death showing that the P.O.D. beneficiary survived all persons named as original payees of the account. If more than one P.O.D. beneficiary is named and at least one of them is predeceased, sums in the account may be paid to the surviving P.O.D. beneficiary or beneficiaries upon presentation of proof of death of the other beneficiary, without regard to claims by the issue of a predeceased beneficiary under s. 705.04 (2) (d). If none of the named beneficiaries survive, the sums in the account may be paid to the estate of the deceased sole owner or the estate of the owner who was the last to die of multiple owners, without regard to claims by the issue of a predeceased beneficiary under s. 705.04 (2) (d). If the P.O.D. account is a marital account, this paragraph applies only to the 50 percent of the account not owned by the surviving spouse named as a party on the account.
(d) Any sums in a marital account may be paid, on request, to either party without regard to whether the other party is under legal disability or is deceased, unless the financial institution receives actual notice that the other party is deceased. After receipt of actual notice of the death of one party to a marital account, the financial institution may pay on request not more than 50 percent of the sums on deposit to the surviving party, and 50 percent of that amount to the personal representative of the deceased party or if applicable to any P.O.D. beneficiary of the deceased party’s interest, unless before payment is made the financial institution receives a verified statement under s. 865.201 or a certified copy of a certificate or recorded application concerning survivorship rights under s. 867.046, in which case the financial institution shall make payment as provided in that document.
(2) Payment made under this subchapter discharges the financial institution from all claims for amounts so withdrawn. If the institution has reason to believe that a dispute exists as to the rights of the parties to an account or their successors it may, but shall not be required to, refuse to pay funds in the account to any persons pending instructions from a court, or it may pay the proceeds to a court. An institution may but need not recognize the authority of an agent, other than one with continuing authority under s. 705.05 (3), until it knows of the fact of death or adjudication of incompetence of all parties appointing such agent and has reasonable opportunity to act.
(3) The protection provided by this section shall have no bearing on the rights of parties or their successors in disputes concerning the beneficial ownership of funds in or withdrawn from an account.