What Happens to a Joint Bank Account If Both Owners Die at the Same Time?

A joint account is built on one assumption: when one owner dies, the other is still here to take the money. A car accident or a house fire can remove that assumption in an instant, and the family is left asking whose money it is now.

Unless an applicable account provision displaces the default under RCW 11.05A.060, Washington answers the question in RCW 11.05A.040. Unless clear and convincing evidence shows that one co-owner survived the other by 120 hours, the account is divided. One-half passes as if the first owner had been the survivor, and one-half passes as if the second owner had been. In practice, each owner's estate receives half, and each half then follows that owner's will or, if there is no will, the intestacy statutes.

How a Joint Account Works When Only One Owner Dies

The everyday rule comes from chapter 30A.22 RCW, the law that governs deposit accounts at banks and credit unions. Under RCW 30A.22.100, when one depositor on a joint account with right of survivorship dies, that person's funds belong to the surviving depositor, unless there is clear and convincing evidence of a different intent at the time the account was created. The transfer ordinarily happens under the account contract rather than the will. Chapter 11.11 RCW nevertheless allows a later will that specifically identifies a covered account to redirect the owner's interest, subject to the act's requirements and any waiver.

Not every joint account carries a right of survivorship. RCW 30A.22.050 says the type of account is set by the contract of deposit, which is the paperwork signed when the account was opened. On a joint account without right of survivorship, RCW 30A.22.100 sends the deceased depositor's funds to that depositor's estate. So the first step is reading the bank's account agreement to see what kind of account it really is.

The Rule When Both Owners Die Together

Survivorship only works if someone survives. RCW 11.05A.040, part of Washington's Uniform Simultaneous Death Act, covers "co-owners with right of survivorship." RCW 11.05A.010 defines that phrase to include joint tenants and other co-owners of property or accounts held so that one or more of them is entitled to the whole on the death of the others.

For two co-owners, the rule is the half and half split described above. For three or more co-owners, if no one is shown to have survived the others by 120 hours, the property passes in equal fractions: thirds for three owners, quarters for four.

The 120 hours matters as much as the split. A co-owner who lives for two days after the other does not take the whole account. Unless survival by a full five days is established by clear and convincing evidence, the law treats the deaths as simultaneous and divides the account. If one owner is shown to have survived by 120 hours or more, the ordinary rule in RCW 30A.22.100 applies, the survivor owned the whole account, and all of it passes through the survivor's estate. The same 120-hour period applies to gifts under a will, which is covered in the article on Washington's 120-hour survival rule.

The Split Ignores Who Deposited the Money

While both owners are alive, RCW 30A.22.090 says the funds in a joint account belong to the depositors in proportion to the net funds each one owns, which is roughly what each put in and has not taken out, unless the account contract says otherwise or there is clear and convincing evidence of a different intent. A parent who adds a child to an account has not, by that act alone, given the child half the balance.

RCW 11.05A.040 has no similar contribution rule. It says one-half passes as if one owner had survived and one-half as if the other had. I have not found a Washington appellate decision on how that split fits with the contribution rule, so the example below shows what the words of the statute produce, and a family with a lopsided account may have room to argue for a different result.

Consider Margaret, a widow in Lynnwood with three children. She adds her daughter Ellen to her savings account, with right of survivorship, so Ellen can help pay bills. Every dollar in the account came from Margaret. The two of them die in the same accident. Under RCW 11.05A.040, half of the account passes as if Margaret survived Ellen, which puts it in Margaret's estate to be shared among all three branches of her family. The other half passes as if Ellen survived Margaret, which puts it in Ellen's estate, where Ellen's will might leave it all to her husband. Margaret's other two children end up sharing in only half of their mother's savings.

Margaret's family may have an argument. RCW 30A.22.100 lets survivorship be defeated by clear and convincing evidence that a different result was intended when the account was created, such as proof that Ellen was added only for convenience. That is a hard standard to meet once both people who knew the answer are gone. The article on whether to add an adult child to your bank account explains why other tools usually do this job better.

Married Couples and Community Property

For spouses, the half and half result usually matches what they already owned. RCW 30A.22.090 and RCW 30A.22.100 both begin by saying they are subject to community property rights, and RCW 30A.22.100 adds that it is subject to the terms of any community property agreement. If the account held community funds, each spouse owned half during life, and each half passes under that spouse's own estate plan.

That matters in a blended family. If each spouse's will leaves everything to the other and then to that spouse's own children, the account is split between the two sets of children. Couples who have signed a community property agreement should have it reviewed with this scenario in mind.

Can a Payable on Death Beneficiary Avoid the Problem?

Often, yes. RCW 30A.22.100 allows a joint account with right of survivorship to also name a payable on death beneficiary. In that case the funds do not belong to the beneficiary until the death of the last surviving depositor. When both owners are gone, the account belongs to the person they named, and the question of which owner died first stops mattering for that account. A payable on death account is a "governing instrument" under RCW 11.05A.010, so the beneficiary must also survive by 120 hours under RCW 11.05A.030.

What the Bank Will Do

Banks pay according to their account records. RCW 11.05A.070 protects a financial institution that pays in good faith under the account terms before it receives written notice that someone claims a different result under the simultaneous death rules. The notice has to be sent by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, or served like a summons. Once a bank has that notice, it can deposit the funds with the probate court and let the court decide. A person who was paid money they were not entitled to under the chapter, without giving value for it, has to return it.

When the split applies, each half is part of an estate, so it is handled with the other assets that go through probate. The same rule applies to other survivorship property, including a house held in joint tenancy.

Sorting Out Accounts After a Double Loss

Two deaths at once leave a family with two estates and answers that depend on details in the bank's paperwork. The Law Office of Chad Foster helps personal representatives and families work through which assets pass to whom. Call 425.785.8679 to talk with a Snohomish County probate attorney about a joint account or an estate plan that depends on one.