2006 Code of Virginia § 6.1-125.1 - Definitions

6.1-125.1. Definitions.

As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires:

1. "Account" means a contract of deposit of funds between a depositor and afinancial institution, and includes a checking account, savings account,certificate of deposit, share account, and other like arrangement;

2. "Beneficiary" means a person named in a trust account as one for whom aparty to the account is named as trustee;

3. "Financial institution" means any organization authorized to do businessunder state or federal laws relating to financial institutions, including,without limitation, banks and trust companies, savings banks, building andloan associations, savings and loan companies or associations, and creditunions;

4. "Joint account" means an account payable on request to one or more oftwo or more parties whether or not mention is made of any right ofsurvivorship;

5. "Multiple-party account" means any of the following types of account:(i) a joint account, (ii) a P.O.D. account, or (iii) a trust account. It doesnot include accounts established for deposit of funds of a partnership, jointventure, or other association for business purposes, or accounts controlledby one or more persons as the duly authorized agent or trustee for acorporation, unincorporated association, charitable or civic organization, ora regular fiduciary or trust account where the relationship is establishedother than by deposit agreement;

6. "Net contribution" of a party to a joint account as of any given time isthe sum of all deposits thereto made by or for him, less all withdrawals madeby or for him which have not been paid to or applied to the use of any otherparty, plus a pro rata share of any interest or any dividends included in thecurrent balance. The term includes, in addition, any proceeds of deposit lifeinsurance added to the account by reason of the death of the party whose netcontribution is in question;

7. "Party" means a person who, by the terms of the account, has a presentright, subject to request, to payment from a multiple-party account. A P.O.D.payee or beneficiary of a trust account is a party only after the accountbecomes payable to him by reason of his surviving the original payee ortrustee. Unless the context otherwise requires, it includes a guardian,conservator, personal representative, or assignee, including an attachingcreditor, of a party. It also includes a person identified as a trustee of anaccount for another whether or not a beneficiary is named, but it does notinclude any named beneficiary unless he has a present right of withdrawal;

8. "Payment" of sums on deposit includes withdrawal, payment on check orother directive of a party, and any pledge of sums on deposit by a party andany setoff, or reduction or other disposition of all or part of an accountpursuant to a pledge;

9. "Proof of death" includes a death certificate; a certificate ofqualification upon a decedent's estate; or an authenticated copy of anyrecord or report of a governmental agency, domestic or foreign, that a personis dead;

10. "P.O.D. account" means an account payable on request to one personduring lifetime and on his death to one or more P.O.D. payees, or to one ormore persons during their lifetimes and on the death of all of them to one ormore P.O.D. payees;

11. "P.O.D. payee" means a person designated on a P.O.D. account as one towhom the account is payable on request after the death of one or more persons;

12. "Request" means a proper request for withdrawal, or a check or orderfor payment, which complies with all conditions of the account, includingspecial requirements concerning necessary signatures and regulations of thefinancial institution; but if the financial institution conditions withdrawalor payment on advance notice, for purposes of this chapter the request forwithdrawal or payment is treated as immediately effective and a notice ofintent to withdraw is treated as a request for withdrawal;

13. "Sums on deposit" means the balance payable on a multiple-party accountincluding interest, dividends, and in addition any deposit life insuranceproceeds added to the account by reason of the death of a party;

14. "Trust account" means an account in the name of one or more parties astrustee for one or more beneficiaries where the relationship is establishedby the form of the account and the deposit agreement with the financialinstitution and there is no subject of the trust other than the sums ondeposit in the account; it is not essential that payment to the beneficiarybe mentioned in the deposit agreement. A trust account does not include aregular trust account under a testamentary trust or a trust agreement whichhas significance apart from the account, or a fiduciary account arising froma fiduciary relation such as attorney-client;

15. "Withdrawal" includes payment to a third person pursuant to check orother directive of a party.

(1979, c. 407.)