154 Ga. 808 | Ga. | 1923
A husband and wife were of the ages eighty-seven and seventy-nine respectively. The wife had two thousand dollars, derived from the sale of her separate estate, which she delivered to her husband to deposit in a designated bank. The husband deposited the money and received two time certificates of deposit for equal amounts. After one year they were renewed for the principal and accumulated interest, so that each new certificate was for one
“ Payable to either or the survivor.”
The wife died on May 5, 1921, leaving a will; and the executor instituted an action against the husband and the bank, seeking to enjoin pajnnent of the certificates to the husband, and to have a decree entitling the executor to one half of the amount represented by the certificates. On the final trial there was evidence, though contradicted, tending to show, and sufficient to authorize a finding, that the wife knew the contents and form of each certificate, and that in making the deposit she had directed her husband to have the certificates of deposit so made that the money should be payable to both or either of them if living, or, if one be dead, to the survivor. There was no evidence from which the jury could have inferred that the words, “ payable to either or the survivor,” were placed on the certificates subsequently to their original execution. Hnder appropriate" instructions the court submitted the case as controlled by the issue of whether or not the wife authorized the deposit to be made in the bank in the manner stated in the certificates and “payable to either or the survivor,” as indicated therein; and charged that if the wife did not give such instructions, the verdict would be for the plaintiff. The jury found in accordance with the contentions of the defendant. The plaintiff excepted to the refusal of a new trial.
The court did not err in charging as specified in the first special ground of the motion for a new trial, nor in omitting to charge, in connection therewith, “ that said two certificates issued by the Bank of Bowman, being made payable to A. C. Hendricks, and Mary Hendricks, or order of self, was jointly owned by the said
The evidence was sufficient to support the verdict, and the court did not err in refusing a new trial.
Judgment affirmed.