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<law><site_title>Virginia Decoded</site_title><site_url>https://vacode.org</site_url><law_id>376283</law_id><section_number>64.2-515</section_number><catch_line>Duty of fiduciaries as to joint accounts</catch_line><edition url="https://vacode.org/2026/" slug="2026" current="TRUE" last_updated="2026-08-02">2026</edition><structure><unit label="title" level="1" order_by="136" identifier="64.2">Wills, Trusts, and Fiduciaries</unit><unit label="subtitle" level="2" order_by="2" identifier="II">Wills and Decedents' Estates</unit><unit label="chapter" level="3" order_by="4" identifier="5">Personal Representatives and Administration of Estates</unit><unit label="article" level="4" order_by="3" identifier="3">Authority and General Duties</unit></structure><text>
						<section id="A"><p><span class="prefix-number">A.</span> Except as provided in subsection B, a <span class="dictionary">fiduciary</span> charged with the administration of the estate of a decedent is not required to assert a claim on behalf of the decedent&#x2019;s estate to any funds on deposit in any financial institution in a joint account held, at the time of the decedent&#x2019;s death, in the name of the decedent and one or more other persons when the terms of the <span class="dictionary">contract</span> of deposit, or the <span class="dictionary">laws</span> of the state in which such funds are deposited, permit such financial institution to pay the funds to (i) any of such persons in whose name the account is held, whether the other, or others, are living or not, or (ii) a named survivor or survivors. <a id="paragraph-1404904" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/64.2-515/#A"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="B"><p><span class="prefix-number">B.</span> The <span class="dictionary">fiduciary</span> shall assert a claim to such funds if he receives a request in writing from any person interested in the estate within six months from the date of the initial qualification of the estate. The <span class="dictionary">fiduciary</span>, or his attorney, shall acknowledge in writing receipt of such request within 10 days, and if the <span class="dictionary">fiduciary</span> is the surviving cotenant of such funds, the <span class="dictionary">fiduciary</span> shall segregate such funds and place such funds in an interest-bearing account, awaiting an appropriate <span class="dictionary">court order</span> concerning the ultimate <span class="dictionary">disposition</span> of such funds. The <span class="dictionary">fiduciary</span> shall not use such funds for his own personal account. However, if the <span class="dictionary">fiduciary</span> accedes to the request that such funds be treated as estate funds, the <span class="dictionary">fiduciary</span> may distribute the funds according to <span class="dictionary">law</span> without any <span class="dictionary">court order</span>. <a id="paragraph-1404905" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/64.2-515/#B"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section></text><history>Code 1950, &#xA7; 64-131.1; 1966, c. 600; 1968, c. 656, &#xA7; 64.1-140; 1970, c. 425; 2012, c. 614.</history><metadata></metadata></law>
