Estates of Beisbier

The issue, as we view this case, is whether a joint checking account carries all the attributes of a common-law joint tenancy, including the right to trace severed funds into assets purchased by one of the co-owners of the account.

Appellant urges in her brief that the county court’s determination of the ownership of these assets constituted a question of fact and not one of law. We disagree and consider the dispositive issue as a question of law.

The trial judge assumed it was undisputed that the funds for the purchase of the assets here in question came from the joint checking account. He…