§560:6-104 Right of survivorship. (a) Sums remaining on deposit at the death of a party to a joint account belong to the surviving party or parties as against the estate of the decedent unless there is clear and convincing evidence of a different intention at the time the account is created. If there are two or more surviving parties, their respective ownerships during lifetime shall be in proportion to their previous ownership interests under section 560:6-103 augmented by an equal share for each survivor of any interest the decedent may have owned in the account immediately before the decedent's death; and the right of survivorship continues between the surviving parties.
(b) If the account is a payable-on-death account,
(1) On death of one of two or more original payees the rights to any sums remaining on deposit are governed by subsection (a) of this section.
(2) On death of the sole original payee or of the survivor of two or more original payees, any sums remaining on deposit belong to the payable-on-death payee or payees if surviving, or to the survivor of them if one or more die before the original payee; if two or more payable-on-death payees survive, there is a right of survivorship in the event of death of a payable-on-death payee thereafter.
(c) If the account is a trust account,
(1) On death of one of two or more trustees, the rights to any sums remaining on deposit are governed by subsection (a) of this section, and
(2) On death of the sole trustee or the survivor of two or more trustees, any sums remaining on deposit belong to the person or persons named as beneficiaries, if surviving, or to the survivor of them if one or more die before the trustee, unless there is clear evidence of a contrary intent; if two or more beneficiaries survive, there is a right of survivorship in event of death of any beneficiary thereafter.
(d) In other cases, the death of any party to a multiple-party account has no effect on beneficial ownership of the account other than to transfer the rights of the decedent as part of the decedent's estate.
(e) A right of survivorship arising from the express terms of the account or under this section, or a beneficiary designation in a trust account, or a payable-on-death payee designation, cannot be changed by will. [L 1976, c 200, pt of §1; gen ch 1985]