Difference between revisions of "Property in Wills and Estate (16:IX)"

When a joint bank account is created, many assume that when one owner dies, the survivor is automatically entitled the remaining balance in the account. However, this is not always the case. In ''Pecore v Pecore'', 2007 SCC 17, the Supreme Court of Canada held that when a parent creates a joint bank account with an adult child, it is presumed that this arrangement is made out of convenience, and there was not an intent by the parent for the balance of the account to pass to their adult child by way of survivorship. Unless the intention for the account to pass to the adult child through survivorship is clear when the bank account is set up, courts will presume that the balance in the joint account is to be held by the child in a resulting trust for their parent’s estate. It is then up to the child to prove that their parent intended to gift the bank account to them. If the child fails to establish such an intention, the balance of the account forms a part of their parent’s estate and is distributed according to their will or the law of intestacy.  

The Court will consider many factors when determining the deceased’s intention in situations involving joint bank accounts. For a detailed discussion of these factors, see https://www.lerners.ca/lernx/joint-accounts-is-the-surviving-owner-really-entitled-to-the-money