Wool v. Nationsbank of Virginia, NA

In this appeal, we consider whether the trial court erred in holding that a financial institution was not liable to the holders of a savings certificate based on an application of the common law presumption of payment.

In 1966, Virginia National Bank issued a savings certificate in the amount of $10,000 to Margaret H. Wool. Wool died in 1977; the certificate was not listed as an asset in her estate. In 1992, John E. Wool, Jr., Mrs. Wool’s son, found the savings certificate among his mother’s effects. John Wool presented the certificate to NationsBank of Virginia, N.A., successor to Virginia…