Background
Anthony Stanley Machak died in June 2023, leaving behind two joint bank accounts at State Bank of the Lakes in Illinois that he held with his son Gregory. Michelle LaBarbera, Anthony’s daughter, petitioned for formal probate administration and objected to the exclusion of these accounts from the estate’s final accounting. She contended that the signature cards opening the accounts did not explicitly state that survivorship rights existed and demanded that Gregory (the personal representative) and the bank produce all documents proving ownership at the time of Anthony’s death.
The bank provided signature cards showing both Anthony and Gregory as joint “owners” without specified limitations, along with a cover letter from a senior vice president asserting that the accounts were opened as joint accounts with survivorship rights. When LaBarbera renewed her objection, the circuit court ordered the bank’s counsel to provide a written legal opinion on whether the accounts were solely Anthony’s or jointly held. The bank’s counsel, acting under protest, opined that the accounts were joint accounts with survivorship rights under both Illinois and Wisconsin law, and that any party challenging survivorship must prove by clear and convincing evidence that the owners did not intend to create such rights. Based on this evidence, the circuit court excluded the accounts from the probate estate.
The Court’s Holding
The Wisconsin Court of Appeals affirmed, holding that the accounts were properly excluded from the probate estate. The court applied Wisconsin Statute § 705.04(1), which establishes a presumption that sums in joint accounts belong to the surviving party or parties, unless there is clear and convincing evidence of a different intention at the time the account was created. Critically, the court held that the burden of proving a different intent rests on the party challenging the presumption—in this case, LaBarbera, not Gregory.
The court rejected LaBarbera’s argument that the presumption did not apply because the signature cards lacked specific survivorship language. Under Wisconsin Statute § 705.02(3), using specified language is not the exclusive means of creating a joint account with survivorship rights. The statute defines a joint account as one “payable on request to one or more of 2 or more parties,” which was satisfied here by the signature cards listing both Anthony and Gregory as owners with withdrawal rights.
LaBarbera provided no affidavit or other evidence—much less clear and convincing evidence—demonstrating that Anthony intended to create a convenience account, tenancy in common, or any other type of account without survivorship rights. The signature cards, combined with the bank’s consistent representations that the accounts were opened as joint accounts with survivorship, were sufficient to support the court’s factual finding that Anthony intended Gregory to assume full ownership of the remaining account balances upon his death.
Key Takeaways
- Joint bank accounts in Wisconsin carry a presumption of survivorship that passes assets directly to the surviving account holder, bypassing probate entirely.
- The burden falls on the party challenging survivorship rights to prove by clear and convincing evidence that the account owners intended something other than survivorship—a high standard of proof.
- Explicit survivorship language in an account agreement or signature card is not required; the statutory presumption applies to all jointly held accounts where both parties are listed as owners.
- The court has discretion to solicit expert legal opinions from interested parties during probate proceedings to clarify account ownership structures, even if the expert provides such opinion under protest.
Why It Matters
This decision reinforces a fundamental principle of Wisconsin probate law: jointly held bank accounts with survivorship rights are not probate assets and vest automatically in the surviving account holder. For estate planners and litigants, the case clarifies that the statutory presumption of survivorship is robust and difficult to overcome. A party contesting survivorship cannot rely on the absence of explicit survivorship language; instead, that person must affirmatively demonstrate the decedent’s contrary intent through clear and convincing evidence.
The ruling has practical significance for estate administration and family disputes over account ownership. It establishes that signature cards listing multiple parties as joint owners create a strong presumption of survivorship under Wisconsin law, and that financial institutions’ standard procedures for opening joint accounts align with this statutory framework. Consequently, anyone seeking to establish that a decedent intended a different ownership structure must gather substantial evidence before or at the time of death—silence or ambiguity in account documentation will not overcome the statutory presumption.