Daughters Cannot Overcome Joint Tenancy Titling of Bank CDs.

In this case, the parents had three children and 138 acres of farmland along with various farm property and four certificates of deposit (CD) at a local bank worth $160,000.  They also transferred the farmland to the son, and executed wills that left the farm equipment to the son and other property to the daughters.  Mom died in early 2011, and Dad and the son went to the bank and executed documents indicating that the son was being added as a joint co-owner on each CD.  Dad died in mid-2013 and the bank filed a petition for guidance on distribution of the CDs.  The court determined that the CDs belonged to the son as the surviving joint tenant.  The sisters appealed attacking the process that was utilized to add their brother as joint co-owner on the accounts such that the accounts should be determined to be assets of their father's estate that would pass as part of the residuary of the estate.  The appellate court affirmed on the basis that the daughters lacked clear and convincing evidence of a different intent of their father other than to add their brother as a joint co-owner.  That was the requirement under the state (IN) probate code.  In re Estate of Herin, No. 39A-5-1411-ES-537, 2015 Ind. App. LEXIS 491 (Ind. Ct. App. Jun. 29, 2015).