Vitacco v. Eckberg

Decedent, Joseph Knaffle, brought this action seeking the return of $83,000 defendant, Dorothy Eckberg, withdrew from a savings account which listed decedent and defendant as joint tenants. The complaint alleged that when decedent created the account, he did not intend to make a gift to defendant and therefore the money in the account was not defendant’s to withdraw. After decedent’s death, Deborah Vitacco in her capacity as the independent administrator of decedent’s estate was substituted as plaintiff. The case was tried without a jury. After plaintiff’s case in chief, the trial court…