Watts v. Swiss Bank Corp.

At issue is the ownership of the proceeds of a joint account in the New York office of a Swiss bank. The account had been opened by a married couple domiciled in France. Both have died, the husband first, and the surviving wife after litigation over the ownership of the account had begun. Substantially, the ownership turns on the conflict between the rights of survivorship of joint owners of a bank account under New York law and the rights of devolution under the forced heirship rules mandated by the civil law of France. Actions were instituted both in New York and France. The French…