## Facts

- Frank A. Whitehead kept a savings account at Anna National Bank of Anna.
- Whitehead’s wife, Muriel, died in 1974; Muriel’s sister, Cora Goddard, later helped care for Whitehead.
- In April 1978, while Whitehead was experiencing serious eye problems, Whitehead and Goddard went to the bank and signed a signature card for Whitehead’s savings account.
- The front of the signature card permitted withdrawals with one signature; the back stated that funds were owned by the signatories as joint tenants with right of survivorship.
- Whitehead supplied the funds in the account. Goddard made no deposits and never withdrew funds for her own use; she only accompanied Whitehead to the bank on one occasion so he could withdraw money.
- Goddard testified that Whitehead told her he wanted her to have the money in the account if she outlived him.
- Later, Whitehead’s caretaker changed. In January 1979, Whitehead wrote the bank asking to change the name on the account to his new caretaker, Enola Stevens (later Enola Stevens Franklin), so someone could pay his bills or act for him if he could not see or became ill.
- Whitehead died on December 22, 1980.
- Enola Stevens Franklin, as executor of Whitehead’s estate, sued the bank claiming the account funds belonged to the estate.
- The bank filed an interpleader bringing in Goddard, who claimed the funds as the surviving joint tenant.
- After a bench trial, the circuit court awarded the account balance to Goddard by right of survivorship, and Franklin appealed.

## Issues

1. Whether the estate rebutted, by clear and convincing evidence, the presumption that Whitehead intended a gift to Goddard when he created the joint account with survivorship terms.
2. Whether Whitehead’s purpose in adding Goddard’s name was to provide assistance in managing his finances due to failing eyesight (a convenience arrangement) rather than to transfer beneficial ownership.

## Decision

- The appellate court reversed the trial court’s judgment awarding the funds to Goddard.
- The court held the evidence was clear and convincing that Whitehead did not intend to make a present gift to Goddard when the joint account was created.
- The court remanded for proceedings consistent with treating the account balance as an estate asset.

## Legal Principles

- A joint bank account with survivorship language creates a presumption that the depositor intended to make a gift of survivorship rights to the other named party.
- The presumption may be overcome by clear and convincing evidence that the depositor did not intend a gift at the time the joint account was created.
- Donative intent is determined primarily from circumstances surrounding creation of the account, but later conduct and statements may be considered to shed light on the depositor’s original intent.
- Evidence supporting a “convenience account” includes the depositor’s need for help managing funds (such as illness or impaired vision), written instructions showing the additional signer was added to pay bills or handle affairs, and the non-depositor’s lack of deposits, withdrawals, or other exercise of ownership.

## Conclusion

In Franklin v. Anna National Bank of Anna, the Illinois Appellate Court held that although the signature card created a presumption that Whitehead intended Goddard to take the account by survivorship, the estate proved by clear and convincing evidence that Whitehead added another name to his account only so someone could help manage his money if he could not see or became sick. Whitehead’s letters requesting that the bank substitute his later caretaker for bill-paying purposes, along with Goddard’s lack of contribution or use of the account, showed no intent to make a present gift, so the funds belonged to the estate rather than to Goddard as surviving joint tenant.


Franklin v. Anna National Bank of Anna, 140 Ill. App. 3d 533, 488 N.E.2d 1117, 94 Ill. Dec. 870 (1986)