Opinion ID: 1890553
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Court Of Appeals' Alternative Summary Judgment Was Premature.

Text: The conclusion that KRS 391.315 does not apply to the EdwardJones account removed the basis for the trial court's award of summary judgment to Faye. Having determined that neither party presented a valid ground for summary judgment, the Court of Appeals should have, at that point, remanded the matter to the trial court for additional proceedings. Instead, relying on Saylor v. Saylor, supra , the Court of Appeals ruled that because the EdwardJones account had been opened in the form of Charles F. Spencer & L. Faye Spencer, as opposed to Charles F. Spencer or L. Faye Spencer, it must, as a matter of common law, be deemed a tenancy in common and so divided equally between Faye and the estate. This is a theory of the case that was not developed in, or ruled upon by, the trial court, and in particular it is a theory the factual basis for which the parties have had no opportunity to address. It is true that in Saylor the former Court of Appeals held that a joint account in the conjunctive (and) was rebuttably presumed to indicate a tenancy in common, whereas a joint account in the disjunctive (or) was rebuttably presumed to indicate a joint tenancy with the right of survivorship. The crucial word here, however, is rebuttably. In the absence of evidence of a contrary intent, the presumptions provide rules of decision. Where there is contrary evidence, however, a question of fact may require disposition by the fact finder, or, if the evidence of a contrary intent is clear beyond dispute, a ruling to that effect may be required by the court. Faye has not had an opportunity to rebut the presumption the Court of Appeals imposed on her and to prove that the EdwardJones account was intended to be a survivorship account. It does not appear from the record, moreover, that it would be impossible for her to do so. At one of the preliminary hearings, counsel for Faye stated that the EdwardJones account representative who had opened the joint account for them was available to testify concerning the account. Furthermore, Faye has attached to one of her briefs monthly account statements which identify the account as one with survivorship. This is enough of an evidentiary showing to overcome the summary judgment the Court of Appeals imposed, and even if it were not, a remand would still be necessary to give Faye an opportunity to develop such a showing. The Court of Appeals' attempt to fashion an alternative ground for summary judgment exceeded its role and was erroneous.