Sec. 445. PAYMENT OF JOINT ACCOUNT AFTER DEATH OR DISABILITY

Any sums in a joint account may be paid, on request, to any party without regard to whether any other party is incapacitated or deceased at the time the payment is demanded, but payment may not be made to the personal representative or heirs of a deceased party unless proofs of death are presented to the financial institution showing that the decedent was the last surviving party or unless there is no right of survivorship under Section 439 of this code. A financial institution that pays a sum from a joint account to a surviving party to that account pursuant to a written agreement under Section 439(a) of this code is not liable to an heir, devisee, or beneficiary of the decedent's estate.

Added by Acts 1979, 66th Leg., p. 1756, ch. 713, Sec. 31, eff. Aug. 27, 1979. Amended by Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 297, Sec. 2, eff. Aug. 31, 1987.