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<law><site_title>Virginia Decoded</site_title><site_url>https://vacode.org</site_url><law_id>83499</law_id><section_number>6.2-604</section_number><catch_line>Definitions</catch_line><edition url="https://vacode.org/2025/" slug="2025" current="TRUE" last_updated="">2025</edition><referred_to_by><reference>15.2-958</reference><reference>19.2-10.1</reference><reference>19.2-56</reference><reference>55.1-135</reference><reference>6.2-2040</reference><reference>6.2-602</reference><reference>64.2-305</reference><reference>8.01-420.9</reference></referred_to_by><structure><unit label="title" level="1" order_by="1" identifier="6.2">Financial Institutions and Services</unit><unit label="subtitle" level="2" order_by="1" identifier="II">Depository Institutions and Trust Organizations</unit><unit label="chapter" level="3" order_by="1" identifier="6">Deposits and Accounts</unit><unit label="article" level="4" order_by="1" identifier="2">Multiple-Party Accounts</unit></structure><text>
						<section><p>As used in this article, unless the context requires a different meaning:
		&#x201C;Account&#x201D; means a <span class="dictionary">contract</span> of deposit of funds between a depositor and a <span class="dictionary">financial institution</span>, and includes a checking account, savings account, certificate of deposit, share account, and other similar arrangements.
		&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Beneficiary</span>&#x201D; means a <span class="dictionary">person</span> named in a <span class="dictionary">trust account</span> as one for whom a <span class="dictionary">party</span> to the account is named as trustee.
		&#x201C;Fiduciary&#x201D; shall include any one or more of the following: (i) a fiduciary as defined in &#xA7;&#xA0;<a class="law" title="General definitions for this title" href="/8.01-2/">8.01-2</a>, (ii) an agent under a <span class="dictionary">power of attorney</span>, or (iii) an attorney acting under an attorney-client relationship.
		&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Fiduciary account</span>&#x201D; means (i) an estate account for a decedent, (ii) an account established by one or more agents under a <span class="dictionary">power of attorney</span> or an existing account of a principal to which one or more agents under a <span class="dictionary">power of attorney</span> are added, (iii) an account established by one or more conservators, (iv) an account established by one or more committees, (v) a regular <span class="dictionary">trust account</span> under a testamentary trust or a trust agreement that has significance apart from the account, or (vi) an account arising from a fiduciary relationship such as an attorney-client relationship. &#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Fiduciary account</span>&#x201D; does not include a <span class="dictionary">trust account</span>.
		&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Financial institution</span>&#x201D; means any <span class="dictionary">entity</span> authorized to do business under state or federal <span class="dictionary">laws</span> relating to <span class="dictionary">financial institutions</span> that is authorized to establish <span class="dictionary">accounts</span>, including, without limitation, banks, trust companies, savings institutions, and credit unions.
		&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Joint account</span>&#x201D; means an account payable on <span class="dictionary">request</span> to one or more of two or more parties whether or not mention is made of any right of survivorship.
		&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Multiple-<span class="dictionary">fiduciary account</span></span>&#x201D; means a <span class="dictionary">fiduciary account</span> where more than one fiduciary is authorized to act.
		&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Multiple-<span class="dictionary">party</span> account</span>&#x201D; means any of the following types of account: (i) a <span class="dictionary">joint account</span>, (ii) a P.O.D. account, or (iii) a <span class="dictionary">trust account</span>. The term does not include <span class="dictionary">accounts</span> established for deposit of funds of a partnership, joint venture, or other association for business purposes, or <span class="dictionary">accounts</span> controlled by one or more <span class="dictionary">persons</span> as the duly authorized agent or trustee for a corporation, unincorporated association, or charitable or civic organization.
		&#x201C;Net contribution&#x201D; of a <span class="dictionary">party</span> to a <span class="dictionary">joint account</span> as of any given time is the sum of all deposits thereto made by or for him, less all <span class="dictionary">withdrawals</span> made by or for him which have not been paid to or applied to the use of any other <span class="dictionary">party</span>, plus a pro rata share of any interest or any dividends included in the current balance. The term includes, in addition, any proceeds of deposit life insurance added to the account by reason of the death of the <span class="dictionary">party</span> whose net contribution is in question.
		&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Party</span>&#x201D; means a <span class="dictionary">person</span> who, by the terms of the account, has a present right, subject to <span class="dictionary">request</span>, to payment from a <span class="dictionary">multiple-<span class="dictionary">party</span> account</span>, including a <span class="dictionary">fiduciary account</span>. The term includes a P.O.D. payee or <span class="dictionary">beneficiary</span> of a <span class="dictionary">trust account</span> only after the account becomes payable to him by reason of his surviving the original payee or trustee. The term includes a guardian, conservator, personal representative, or assignee, including an attaching <span class="dictionary">creditor</span>, of a <span class="dictionary">party</span>. The term also includes a <span class="dictionary">person</span> identified as a trustee of an account for another whether or not a <span class="dictionary">beneficiary</span> is named, but it does not include any named <span class="dictionary">beneficiary</span> unless he has a present right of <span class="dictionary">withdrawal</span>.
		&#x201C;Payment,&#x201D; with respect to <span class="dictionary">sums on deposit</span>, includes <span class="dictionary">withdrawal</span>, payment on check or other directive of a <span class="dictionary">party</span>, and any pledge of <span class="dictionary">sums on deposit</span> by a <span class="dictionary">party</span> and any setoff, or reduction or other <span class="dictionary">disposition</span> of all or part of an account pursuant to a pledge.
		&#x201C;P.O.D. account&#x201D; means an account payable on <span class="dictionary">request</span> to one <span class="dictionary">person</span> during his lifetime and on his death to one or more P.O.D. payees, or to one or more <span class="dictionary">persons</span> during their lifetimes and on the death of all of them to one or more P.O.D. payees.
		&#x201C;P.O.D. payee&#x201D; means a <span class="dictionary">person</span> designated on a P.O.D. account as one to whom the account is payable on <span class="dictionary">request</span> after the death of one or more <span class="dictionary">persons</span>.
		&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Proof of death</span>&#x201D; includes a death certificate; a certificate of qualification upon a decedent&#x2019;s estate; or an authenticated copy of any record or report of a governmental agency, domestic or foreign, that a <span class="dictionary">person</span> is dead.
		&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Request</span>&#x201D; means a proper <span class="dictionary">request</span> for <span class="dictionary">withdrawal</span>, or a check or <span class="dictionary">order</span> for payment, that complies with all conditions of the account, including special requirements concerning necessary signatures and regulations of the <span class="dictionary">financial institution</span>. If the <span class="dictionary">financial institution</span> conditions <span class="dictionary">withdrawal</span> or payment on advance notice, for purposes of this article the <span class="dictionary">request</span> for <span class="dictionary">withdrawal</span> or payment is treated as immediately effective and a notice of <span class="dictionary">intent</span> to withdraw is treated as a <span class="dictionary">request</span> for <span class="dictionary">withdrawal</span>.
		&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Sums on deposit</span>&#x201D; means the balance payable on a <span class="dictionary">multiple-<span class="dictionary">party</span> account</span>, including a <span class="dictionary">fiduciary account</span>, including interest, dividends, and in addition any deposit life insurance proceeds added to the account by reason of the death of a <span class="dictionary">party</span>.
		&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Trust account</span>&#x201D; means 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 <span class="dictionary">financial institution</span> and there is no subject of the trust other than the <span class="dictionary">sums on deposit</span> in the account, without regard to whether payment to the <span class="dictionary">beneficiary</span> is mentioned in the deposit agreement. The term does not include a <span class="dictionary">fiduciary account</span>.
		&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Withdrawal</span>&#x201D; includes payment to a third <span class="dictionary">person</span> pursuant to check or other directive of a <span class="dictionary">party</span>.</p></section></text><history>1979, c. 407, &#xA7; 6.1-125.1; 2010, c. 794; 2020, c. 259.</history><metadata></metadata></law>
