APPELWICK, J.
Mitchell Williams appeals the summary judgment order, determining that Michelyn Williams, deceased, and her daughter, McPhillips, jointly owned a bank account with right of survivorship. The Membership and Account Agreement, incorporated by reference into the Account Application, provides that joint accounts are with right of survivorship, unless otherwise indicated. The Account Application did not indicate a contrary intention. We affirm.
Michelyn Williams passed away on April 3, 2007. Mitchell Williams, her son, is the personal representative of Michelyn Williams's estate. The estate seeks the proceeds of a bank account held jointly by the deceased and Lori McPhillips.
On June 22, 1993, Michelyn Williams signed an "All-In-One Account Application" with McChord Credit Union, establishing an account. On August 4, 1993, Michelyn Williams signed a second All-In-One Account Application with McChord Credit Union, establishing an account with a different account number.
The application contains a section titled "Account Ownership/Beneficiary Options." That section provides five different boxes that the signatories may check, if they wish to indicate the type of account they are applying for. Those options include "Individual," "Joint Tenants With Right of Survivorship," "Joint Trustee," "Individual Trustee," and "Uniform Gift to Minors." This section was left completely blank, with all five of the boxes unchecked.
It was the practice of McChord Credit Union to provide a "Membership and Account Agreement" to account members in conjunction with their applications. Don Montague, an employee at the credit union, stated that he was unable to produce the prior edition of the card member agreement that was in effect during 1993, but he did state, "I can confirm the language with respect to joint accounts and rights of survivorship has not materially changed since the above referenced accounts were created." The Membership and Account Agreement begins: "This Membership and Account Agreement (Agreement) is the contract of deposit that covers your and our rights and responsibilities concerning membership and accounts offered to you." Section three of the Membership and Account Agreement is titled "Joint Accounts," and continues, in relevant part:
An account owned by two or more persons is a joint account.
In 1996, McChord Credit Union changed its name to Harborstone Credit Union. Harborstone Credit Union indicated its understanding, in a March 18, 2009 letter, that the account at issue was a joint account between Michelyn Williams and McPhillips with a right of survivorship, based on Michelyn Williams's signature on August 4, 1993.
In February 2010, Mitchell Williams filed a petition under the Trust and Estate Dispute Resolution Act (TEDRA) under chapter 11.96A RCW. In that petition, he sought a finding and order from the trial court that the Harborstone Credit Union account should not pass to McPhillips but should be included in the estate. McPhillips filed a motion for summary judgment, asserting that the Harborstone Credit Union account was jointly held by her and her mother, was nonprobate, and properly passed to her via the survivorship provisions. The trial court heard oral argument on the motion and granted summary judgment in favor of McPhillips. Mitchell Williams timely appealed.
This court reviews summary judgment orders de novo.
Interpretation of an unambiguous contract is a matter of law.
Mitchell Williams does not dispute that the account was intended to be a joint account. He argues only that there is no indication of Michelyn Williams's intent to create an account with right of survivorship. In support of this, he claims that at the time Michelyn Williams signed the account application and the Membership and Account Agreement on August 4, 1993, she opened only an individual account. He argues that there was no evidence that Michelyn Williams ever received an explanation from the credit union of its default policy (contained in the Membership and Account Agreement), whereby, unless otherwise specified, joint accounts would automatically be accounts with right of survivorship. And, he points out that when McPhillips signed the account application on August 10, 1993, there was no indication that Michelyn Williams was present.
RCW 30.22.040 defines joint bank accounts, both with and without the right of survivorship. A joint account without right of survivorship is "an account in the name of two or more depositors and which contains no provision that the funds of a deceased depositor become the property of the surviving depositor or depositors." RCW 30.22.040(7). And, a joint account with right of survivorship is "an account in the name of two or more depositors and which provides that the funds of a deceased depositor become the property of one or more of the surviving depositors." RCW 30.22.040(8). There is no dispute about what happens to the funds in a joint account upon the death of a depositor:
RCW 30.22.100.
The general rule is that the intention of the parties creating the account controls the question of who owns the funds.
In determining the parties' intent, the plain language of the contract provides conclusive evidence supporting the trial court's finding that the account was a joint account with right of survivorship. Moreover, there is a presumption that absent clear and convincing evidence to the contrary, joint accounts are accounts with right of survivorship.
Mitchell Williams did not present any evidence to rebut the presumption that the account was a joint account with right of survivorship. The only evidence he cites to is Michelyn Williams and McPhillips' failure to affirmatively indicate which type of account they were applying for. In light of the presumption in favor of the right of survivorship and the incorporated language of the Membership and Account Agreement, we hold that the trial court properly granted McPhillips' motion for summary judgment. Michelyn Williams and McPhillips opened a joint account with right of survivorship. We affirm.
LAU and DWYER, JJ., concur.