Estate Duty on Joint Bank Accounts
New Zealand Law Journal, pp. 157-159, May 1, 1979
3 Pages Posted: 2 Feb 2010
Date Written: May 1979
Abstract
Re Donald (1977) 2 TRNZ 275 dealt with valuing a wife’s interest in a bank account held jointly with her husband, on his death. Somers J held that the wife did not have any beneficial interest in the account until the husband’s death, when she acquired a right to the whole account. This note argues that this conclusion was incorrect. Since the purpose for the account was for both parties to have access to money as required, Somers J should have found that the wife had some beneficial interest in the account before her husband’s death.
Keywords: Estate duty, joint bank account, interest, Re Donald, tax
JEL Classification: K11, K34
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation