Opinion ID: 1842972
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: the $13,571

Text: Merrill Lynch contends that Dr. and Mrs. Luckett were presumed to be equal owners in the joint account and therefore the chancellor erred in awarding him the entire amount withdrawn on Mrs. Luckett's check, citing Reeves v. Reeves, 410 So.2d 1300, 1303 (Miss. 1982). While it is correct that in the absence of proof to the contrary, joint account owners are presumed to have equal ownership of the account, this misses the point in this case. The CMA drafted by Merrill Lynch, no doubt by well paid counsel, conspicuously fails to mention its policy of blocking withdrawal of funds when the account owners are in a dispute, and fails to give this company any right to withhold funds as it did in this case. For reasons neither given at trial nor on appeal, Merrill Lynch chose to omit any such provision from its CMA. When Dr. Luckett asked about withdrawing the funds from the account, he had a clear legal right to withdraw the entire amount, not just part of it. In re Lewis' Estate, 194 Miss. 480, 487, 13 So.2d 20, 25 (1943). Without Merrill Lynch's intervention, Dr. Luckett would have withdrawn for himself the entire $13,571, and Merrill Lynch had no obligation or right to trace the funds following withdrawal to see whether or not Mrs. Luckett received any part of it. Having prevented Dr. Luckett from withdrawing the entire amount, Merrill Lynch thereafter had a fiduciary obligation to Dr. Luckett to hold these funds in trust for his protection. By its own admitted negligence, Merrill Lynch permitted Mrs. Luckett to withdraw the entire amount. It is drawing too fine a bead for Merrill Lynch to argue that, following its refusal to permit Dr. Luckett to withdraw the entire amount as he had a legal right to do, and letting it all go on Mrs. Luckett's check, that nevertheless it only owed Dr. Luckett one-half of the account. Having been prevented from withdrawing the entire amount in June, 1985, Dr. Luckett was entitled to recover this sum plus legal interest from Merrill Lynch at trial in May, 1988. The chancery court judgment for $13,571 actual damages is therefore affirmed. As to all remaining damages, the judgment is reversed and judgment entered here for Merrill Lynch, and as to Arthur Finkelberg, the judgment is reversed and rendered. AFFIRMED IN PART; REVERSED AND RENDERED IN PART. ROY NOBLE LEE, C.J., and ROBERTSON and BANKS, JJ., concur. DAN M. LEE, P.J., concurs in parts II, III, IV and V and dissents to part I with separate written opinion. BANKS, J., concurs with separate written opinion. McRAE, J., concurs in part and dissents in part with separate written opinion joined by PITTMAN, J., DAN M. LEE, P.J., joins in part I, BANKS, J., joins in part III, and SULLIVAN, J., concurs with McRAE, J., with separate written opinion. PRATHER, J., not participating.