705.01 Definitions. As used in this subchapter, unless the context otherwise requires:

(1) “Account" means a contract of deposit of funds between a depositor and a financial institution, and includes a checking or savings account, certificate of deposit, share account and other like arrangement. All such contracts in which there are 2 or more parties or one or more agents shall be evidenced by a writing signed by each party making a deposit to the account, prior to or within a reasonable time after such deposit, containing language in substantially the form set forth in s. 705.02. For purposes of this subchapter, the term “account" does not include contracts established for the deposit of funds of a partnership, joint venture, or other association for business purposes, accounts controlled by one or more persons as the duly authorized agents or trustees for a corporation, limited liability company, unincorporated association, or charitable or civic organization, or regular fiduciary or trust accounts where the relationship is established other than by deposit agreement.

(2) “Agent" means a person who, by the terms of an account, has a present right, subject to request, to payment therefrom as agent for all of the parties to the account.

(3) “Financial institution" means any organization authorized to do business under state or federal laws relating to financial institutions, including, without limitation, banks and trust companies, savings banks, building and loan associations, savings and loan associations and credit unions.

(4) “Joint account" means an account, other than a marital account, payable on request to one or more of 2 or more parties whether or not mention is made of any right of survivorship. “Joint account" also means any account established with the right of survivorship on or after January 1, 1986, by 2 parties who claim to be husband and wife, which is payable on request to either or both of the parties.

(4m) “Marital account" means an account established without the right of survivorship on or after January 1, 1986, by 2 parties who claim to be husband and wife, which is payable on request to either or both of the parties and which is designated as a marital account. An account established by those parties with the right of survivorship under s. 766.58 (3) (f) or 766.60 is a joint account.

(5) “Net contribution" of a party to a joint account as of any given time is the sum of all deposits made by or for the party, less all withdrawals made by or for the party which have not been paid to or applied for the use of any other party, plus a proportional share of any interest or dividends included in the current balance as adjusted to reflect time of deposit. It includes any proceeds of deposit life insurance added to the account by reason of the death of the party whose net contribution is in question.

(6) “Party" means a person who, by the terms of an account, has a present right, subject to request, to payment therefrom other than as agent. A beneficiary of a P.O.D. account is a party only after the account becomes payable to the beneficiary by reason of the beneficiary's surviving the original payee. A minor may be a party to an account, subject to the withdrawal restrictions of s. 705.04 (2). Unless the context indicates otherwise, “party" includes a guardian, conservator, personal representative or assignee, including an attaching creditor, of a party.

(7) “Payment" of sums on deposit includes withdrawal, payment on check or other order of a party, any pledge of sums on deposit by a party and any setoff, or reduction or other disposition of all or part of an account pursuant to a pledge.

(8) “P.O.D. account" means an account payable on request to one person during lifetime and on the person's death to one or more P.O.D. beneficiaries, or to one or more persons during their lifetimes and on the death of all of them to one or more P.O.D. beneficiaries. It includes an account in the name of one or more parties as trustee for one or more beneficiaries where the relationship is established by the form of the account and the deposit agreement with the financial institution and there is no subject of the trust other than the sums on deposit in the account. It includes a marital account for which a party named one or more P.O.D. beneficiaries for that party's interest.

(9) “P.O.D. Beneficiary" means a person designated on a P.O.D. account as one to whom all or part of the account is payable on request after the death of one or more parties.

(10) “Request" means a proper request for withdrawal, or a check or other order for payment, which complies with all conditions of the account, including special requirements concerning necessary signatures and regulations of the financial institution. Unless the signature card, passbook, contract or instrument evidencing the account clearly provides to the contrary, a request by all parties to a joint or marital account is required for payment if the account is designated with their names conjunctively joined by the word “and". If the financial institution conditions withdrawal or payment on advance notice, for purposes of this subchapter the request for withdrawal or payment is treated as immediately effective and a notice of intent to withdraw is treated as a request for withdrawal.

(11) “Sums on deposit" means the balance payable on a multiple-party account including interest, dividends, and any deposit life insurance proceeds added to the account by reason of the death of a party.

History: 1973 c. 291; 1979 c. 110 s. 60 (11); 1983 a. 186; 1989 a. 331; 1993 a. 112, 486.

The definition of “party" in sub. (6) relates only to parties to an account and has nothing to do with the legal standing of named beneficiaries to sue the depositor's agent for negligence in failing to maintain a POD account. Brooks v. Bank of Wisconsin Dells, 161 Wis. 2d 39, 467 N.W.2d 187 (Ct. App. 1991).

A personal representative is not a “party" to an account held as a “joint account" by the decedent and another who survives; a bank who disburses the funds of the joint account to the personal representative is not entitled to immunity under s. 705.06 (2). In Matter of Estate of Martz, 171 Wis. 2d 89, 491 N.W.2d 772 (Ct. App. 1992).

A P.O.D. beneficiary must be named in the account records of the financial institution such that the financial institution can adhere to its contract to pay the depositor's funds to the beneficiary as it was directed upon the depositor's death. A separate writing not filed by a depositor with a financial institution is ineffective to alter a P.O.D. beneficiary designation under ch. 705. Mueller v. Edwards, 2017 WI App 79, 378 Wis. 2d 689, 904 N.W.2d 392, 16-2437.

Multiple-party and agency accounts. Evans, 1975 WBB No. 3.