Joint postal mis account - death of one account holder
Adv. Deepak
(Querist) 13 October 2012
This query is : Resolved
A opened joint postal MIS account with his daughter-in-law B and kept Rs.5,00,000/- in the said account. Amount is self acquired property of A. Nomination has been made. Wife of A and his son that is husband of B are the nominees of both. Account is either or. Subsequently A died. On death of A, B closed the account prematurely and withdrawn the money. Wife of A and son of A, that is husband of B filed civil suit against B for recovery of amount claiming that they are the legal heirs of A. B was joint account holder. On death of A, joint account got converted into single account in the name of B, as per postal rules. Will B succeed in the said suit as per Section 14(1) of Hindu Succession Act? Or will the case fall under Section 14(2) of Hindu Succession Act? What are the chances of wife of A and son of A getting success under Section 6 of Hindu Succession Act? What are the chances of B getting full amount? Will B get nothing? Are there any reported rulings of the Supreme Court of Bombay High Court? Experts are requested to kindly extend full cooperation and advice.
Regards.
malipeddi jaggarao
(Expert) 13 October 2012
A & B are joint account holders with Either or Survivor. Wife of A (say C) and son of A (say D) are the nominees nominated by both A& B. B closed the account before maturity.
According to my knowledge, the joint account holder though the operational instructions are Either or Survivor, can not close the account prematurely and the survivor should wait till the date of maturity. In case if he/she so wishes, the legal heirs of the deceased person should join in the request for premature closure or to transfer the account into single name. This you can verify with the postal department.
Secondly since one of the joint account holder is survivor, the nominees will not come into scene. But C & D can claim their share being the legal heirs after obtaining the legal heir/succession certificate and send a notice to B. If B does not respond positively, a civil suit can be initiated to exert the rights as legal heirs/successors.
The above reply is based on banking experience and hence I can not quote any decisions in this regard. Let some more experts comment on the later part of your query.
Guest
(Expert) 13 October 2012
No scope of winning of the case by wife and son of A, as according to the Potal Savings bank Act and Rules, there was no irregularity in conversion of EOS type of joint account at first in to the single account in the name of B, and thereafter closure of account prematurely by B. Right of nominees would have no relevance during the life of the surviving account holder.
Both the wife and son may try to continue with the case if they want to waste their money on the case, but with bleak hope.
