17:16I-2 - Definitions

17:16I-2.  Definitions
    As used in this act unless the context otherwise requires:

    a.   "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 like arrangement;

    b.   "Beneficiary"  means a person named in a trust account as one for whom  a party to the account is named as trustee;

    c.   "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;

    d.   "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, and regardless whether the names of the parties are stated in the  conjunctive or in the disjunctive;

    e.  A  "multiple-party account"  is any of the following types of account: (1) a joint account, (2) a P.O.D. account, or (3) a trust account.  It 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, charitable or civic organization or a regular fiduciary or trust account where the relationship is established other than by deposit agreement;

    f.   "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 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;

    g.   "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. A P.O.D.  payee or beneficiary of a trust account is a party only after the account  becomes payable to him by reason of his surviving the original payee or  trustee.  Unless the context otherwise requires, it includes a guardian, conservator, personal representative, or assignee, including an attaching creditor, of a party.  It 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;

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

    i.   "Proof of death"  includes a certified or authenticated copy of a death  certificate purporting to be issued by an official or agency of the place where  the death purportedly occurred, and a certified or authenticated copy of any  judgment or record or report of a court or a governmental agency, domestic or  foreign, that a person is dead;

    j.   "P.O.D. account"  means an account payable on request to one person during 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;

    k.   "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;

      l  .   "Request"  means a proper request for withdrawal, or a check or order for payment, which complies with all conditions of the account, including  special requirements concerning necessary signatures and regulations of the  financial institution;  but if the financial institution conditions withdrawal  or payment on advance notice, for purposes of this part 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;

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

    n.   "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;  it is not essential that payment to the beneficiary be  mentioned in the deposit agreement.  A trust account does not include a regular  trust account under a testamentary trust or a trust agreement which has  significance apart from the account, or a fiduciary account arising from a  fiduciary relation such as attorney-client;

      o  .   "Withdrawal"  includes payment to a third person pursuant to check  or other directive of a party;  and

    p.   "Written notice or order"  received by a financial institution is effective for a particular transaction from the time it is brought to the attention of the individual conducting that transaction.

     L.1979, c. 491, s. 2.