A. Except as otherwise provided in this part, on death of a party sums on deposit in a multiple-party account belong to the surviving party or parties. If two or more parties survive and one is the surviving spouse of the decedent, the amount to which the decedent, immediately before death, was beneficially entitled under Section 45-6-211 NMSA 1978 belongs to the surviving spouse. If two or more parties survive and none is the surviving spouse of the decedent, the amount to which the decedent, immediately before death, was beneficially entitled under Section 45-6-211 NMSA 1978 belongs to the surviving parties in equal shares, and augments the proportion to which each survivor, immediately before the decedent's death, was beneficially entitled under Section 45-6-211 NMSA 1978, and the right of survivorship continues between the surviving parties.
B. In an account with a POD designation:
(1) on death of one of two or more parties, the rights in sums on deposit are governed by Subsection A of this section; and
(2) on death of the sole party or the last survivor of two or more parties, sums on deposit belong to the surviving beneficiary or beneficiaries; if two or more beneficiaries survive, sums on deposit belong to them in equal and undivided shares, and there is no right of survivorship in the event of death of a beneficiary thereafter; if no beneficiary survives, sums on deposit belong to the estate of the last surviving party.
C. Sums on deposit in a single-party account without a POD designation, or in a multiple-party account that, by the terms of the account, is without right of survivorship, are not affected by death of a party, but the amount to which the decedent, immediately before death, was beneficially entitled under Section 45-6-211 NMSA 1978 is transferred as part of the decedent's estate. A POD designation in a multiple-party account without right of survivorship is ineffective. For purposes of this section, designation of an account as a tenancy in common establishes that the account is without right of survivorship.
D. The ownership right of surviving party or beneficiary, or of the decedent's estate, in sums on deposit is subject to requests for payment made by a party before the party's death, whether paid by the financial institution before or after death, or unpaid. The surviving party or beneficiary, or the decedent's estate, is liable to the payee of an unpaid request for payment. The liability is limited to a proportionate share of the amount transferred under this section, to the extent necessary to discharge the request for payment.
History: 1978 Comp., § 45-6-212, enacted by Laws 1992, ch. 66, § 25.
ANNOTATIONSPresumption of survivorship for joint account. — With a joint account, the law presumes a right of survivorship in the surviving party. Barham v. Jones, 1982-NMSC-064, 98 N.M. 195, 647 P.2d 397.
Survivorship limited by terms of joint will. — A valid contractual, joint and mutual will, which named certain parties as the sole beneficiaries, could not be defeated by the survivor's creation of certificates of deposit which named other parties as payable-on-death beneficiaries. Foulds v. First Nat'l Bank, 1985-NMSC-092, 103 N.M. 361, 707 P.2d 1171.
Rights governed by ownership interests. — Because the named party to a joint account had no ownership interest in the joint account during the lifetime of the original co-owners, when one co-owner withdrew the funds upon the other co-owner's death, the named party lost her right to the funds. Johnston v. Sunwest Bank, 1993-NMSC-060, 116 N.M. 422, 863 P.2d 1043.
Beneficiary mistakenly paid money must reimburse bank. — A POD (paid on death) beneficiary of a joint (now multiple-party) account who was mistakenly paid the money in the account upon the death of one of the two joint tenants was unjustly enriched. Although the bank may have been negligent in disbursing the funds, its negligence caused no harm to anyone except itself and the surviving joint tenant - certainly not to the POD beneficiary, who benefited at the bank's expense and had to make restitution. Sunwest Bank, N.A. v. Colucci, 1994-NMSC-027, 117 N.M. 373, 872 P.2d 346.
Law reviews. — For annual survey of New Mexico law of estates and trusts, 19 N.M.L. Rev. 669 (1990).
Am. Jur. 2d, A.L.R. and C.J.S. references. — 48A C.J.S. Joint Tenancy §§ 3, 4.