Estate of Brownfield v. Bank of America, NA

Siddoway, A.C.J.

¶1 This case calls upon us to decide whether a bank is required by the Financial Institution Individual Account Deposit Act, chapter 30.22 RCW, to disburse funds from a decedent’s account in accordance with the most recent written contract of deposit it can locate in its files when its own electronic records and other evidence suggest that a different deposit contract was later signed but was misfiled or misplaced. We hold that a party relying on a contract of deposit must prove that its terms were memorialized by a writing meeting the requirements of the act. If the required…