Joint Ownership - Daughter Guilty of Theft from Joint Bank Account​​

When two names are on a bank account deciding who owns the funds can be troublesome.  Generally while both parties have a right to withdraw all the funds, that does not mean that  both parties own the money.  Because this issue has most frequently come up when a party dies, state legislatures have approved various approaches to clarify how the law should address the uncertainty of ownership at death.  ​In Wagner v. State, 445 Md. 404 (2015), the Maryland Court of Appeals addressed Maryland law on ownership of joint accounts when it affirmed the conviction of a daughter for theft of her father’s funds. 

​That happened because I had my bank account with my wife’s name on it[,] but[,] since she passed away, I wanted somebody else to be able to get the money if I couldn’t get it myself. So I asked [my daughter] if I could put her name on the account[,] and this is my money in there, but not hers, and she agreed to do that.

According to the police, the daughter had taken $251,645.83 from the account through ATM withdrawals, cash withdrawals, and wire transfers to the daughter’s personal and business checking accounts.  According to the daughter all of the withdrawals were authorized and when prosecutors asked if authorized withdrawals included the money she lost at the casinos, she said, possibly.

​Maryland Law Joint Ownership of Bank Account

​On appeal to Maryland’s highest court, the daughter argued that she could not be guilty of theft because she was an owner on the account.  Rejecting the argument,  the court explained the changes made to the law:

• Ownership after Death  In the absence of explicit terms on the right of survivorship, a surviving party will become the owner only at the time of other party’s death.
• Withdrawal Right  Until the party’s death, a second party only has a right to withdraw funds unless the account explicitly limits the parties’ rights to withdraw.
• Withdrawal Right Is Not Ownership The right to withdraw funds does not provide any ownership interest to the funds in the account while the parties are alive.  
• Convenience Person A party may be added to an account (joint title) for the convenience of the primary account holder.
• Joint Title Creates Rebuttable Presumption  If an account is jointly titled (two parties names are on the account), then the law creates a presumption that both parties are owners of the funds in the account.   However, this presumption is rebuttable if other evidence indicates that the primary party did not intend to give the other party an ownership interest in the funds.

The Court of Appeals then concluded that the evidence at trial – the testimony of the father – was sufficient to rebut the presumption and ultimately that the daughter’s withdrawal of funds for her own benefit indeed constituted theft. ​

Take aways: 

1.  We strongly discourage an aging parent from adding a child to their accounts.
2. If you do add your child (or another person) as a “convenience person”, then you should have a written and signed agreement that spells out that person’s role as a convenience person and whether you intend to create a right of survivorship.
3. Check to make sure that the right of survivorship on the account is consistent with your estate plan.  If you add one child as a convenience person but yet want all of your children to receive the funds then the account should not include a right of survivorship.