Whenever certificates for shares or other securities issued by domestic or foreign corporations are or have been issued or transferred to two or more persons in joint tenancy on the books or records of the corporation, it is presumed in favor of the corporation, its registrar, and its transfer agent that the shares or other securities are owned by such persons in joint tenancy with right of survivorship and not otherwise. A domestic or foreign corporation or its registrar or transfer agent is not liable for transferring or causing to be transferred on the books of the corporation to the surviving joint tenants where a joint tenant dies a resident of this state any share or shares or other securities theretofore issued by the corporation to two or more persons in joint tenancy with right of survivorship on the books or records of the corporation, whether or not the transfer was made by the corporation or its registrar or transfer agent with actual or constructive knowledge of the existence of any understanding, agreement, condition, or evidence that the shares or securities were held other than in joint tenancy or with actual or constructive knowledge of the invalidity of the joint tenancy or of a breach of trust by the joint tenants.
(Ga. L. 1967, p. 647, § 1; Code 1933, § 22-5107, enacted by Ga. L. 1968, p. 565, § 1.)
Cross references.- Joint tenancy with survivorship generally, § 44-6-190.
Law reviews.- For article discussing joint tenancy arrangements as a means of avoiding probate, see 6 Ga. L. Rev. 74 (1971). For article, "Transfer-on-Death Securities Registration: A New Title Form," see 21 Ga. L. Rev. 789 (1987).
JUDICIAL DECISIONS
Joint tenancy not terminated by tenant's incapacity.
- Joint tenancies in bank and stock investment accounts and in real property did not terminate as a matter of law when one of the joint tenants was declared incapacitated and a guardian was appointed for the tenant's person and property. A guardian, unlike a trustee, has no beneficial title in the ward's estate, but is merely a custodian or manager. Moore v. Self, 222 Ga. App. 71, 473 S.E.2d 507 (1996).
Joint property not property of trust estate.
- Funds, which had been deposited by a trust donor from a joint account in the names of one of the beneficiaries, the donor, and the trustee had been used prior to the donor's death to purchase securities in the name of the donor and the trustee as joint tenants; those securities properly belonged to the trustee as the surviving party under O.C.G.A. §§ 7-1-813(a) and14-5-8, and did not belong to the trust estate. Davis v. Walker, 288 Ga. App. 820, 655 S.E.2d 634 (2007).
RESEARCH REFERENCES
ALR.
- Statute relating to joint tenancy in personal property as applicable to choses in action, 144 A.L.R. 1465.