## Facts

- Elizabeth Krempasky, age 82, died on June 8, 1979, at about 2:45 p.m.
- Krempasky’s will left the residue of her estate to her niece, Lydia Elizabeth Vrablova Wanamaker, who also served as executrix.
- Krempasky owned four certificates of deposit (CDs), each worth $5,000, which were kept in a metal box at her home.
- After Krempasky’s death, Wanamaker did not find the CDs in the metal box.
- Wanamaker learned that, on the day Krempasky died, the bank added the name of Anna A. Parana to the CDs based on an authorization form.
- The authorization form was prepared by Parana, signed by Krempasky while she was still alive, and then delivered to the bank by Parana.
- A bank official testified that the bank received the authorization form between 3:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. on June 8, 1979, after Krempasky’s death.
- The bank changed its records to reflect joint ownership of the CDs (with survivorship) without knowledge that Krempasky had already died.
- Wanamaker, as executrix, filed a petition in the Orphans’ Court seeking return of the CDs to the estate as estate property.
- The Orphans’ Court denied the petition and directed a verdict for Parana; Wanamaker appealed.

## Issues

1. Whether a valid joint tenancy with right of survivorship in the CDs was created where the decedent signed a bank authorization while alive, but the bank recorded the ownership change after the decedent’s death without notice of the death.
2. Whether the Orphans’ Court erred in directing a verdict for Parana and denying the estate’s request to treat the CDs as estate assets.

## Decision

- The Orphans’ Court denied the petition to return the CDs to the estate and directed a verdict in favor of Parana.
- The Pennsylvania Superior Court affirmed.
- The court concluded that Krempasky’s execution of the authorization while alive was sufficient to establish the intended joint ownership with survivorship, and the bank’s later recording of the change—done in good faith and without notice of death—did not defeat that result.
- The CDs therefore passed to Parana as the surviving joint owner rather than through Krempasky’s will.

## Legal Principles

- A joint tenancy with right of survivorship in bank deposits or CDs may be created by a depositor’s written direction to the bank showing intent to add a co-owner with survivorship rights.
- When the depositor signs the required authorization while alive and competent, the depositor has completed the essential act to effect the change; the bank’s later entry on its records is a clerical step implementing that instruction.
- If the bank processes the signed authorization after the depositor’s death without notice of the death, the post-death timing of the bank’s record change does not, by itself, convert the transaction into an invalid post-mortem transfer.
- Property held in joint tenancy with survivorship passes to the surviving joint owner outside probate and is not part of the estate’s residue under the will.

## Conclusion

Because Krempasky signed the bank authorization adding Parana as a joint owner before her death, and the bank recorded the change afterward without notice of the death, the CDs were treated as jointly held with survivorship and passed to Parana rather than returning to the estate.


Estate of Krempasky, 501 A.2d 681 (1985)