Virginia National Bank v. Harris

The narrow question presented in this banking appeal is whether the designation of a beneficiary to receive the proceeds of an individual savings account upon the depositor’s death is a testamentary act which is void for failure to comply with the Statute of Wills, Code § 64.1-49.

Charles Harris died intestate during 1976 in Norfolk at the age of 77 years. He had previously opened four savings accounts with Virginia National Bank. Pertinent to this appeal is only one of those accounts, carrying a balance of $20,256.35 at Harris’s death. Appellant Louise Faulklyn, also known as Louise Fowlkes,…