A son was joined as a partner tohis parent’s bank account. And after their demise contended ownership of the funds in the account.
The Court held that adding the son to the account was done solely for convenience and without the intention of granting him the funds as a gift. The Israeli Gift Law and the Israeli Succession Law stipulate that a gift is the transfer of an asset without consideration, requiring consent and a clear intention of the donor to grant it during their lifetime and it is invalid after the donor's demise unless made under a lawful will. According to case law, while funds in a bank account originally opened as joint are presumed to be jointly owned, adding a partner to an existing account does not in itself necessarily indicate a gift. A party claiming the granting of a gift bears a heightened burden of proof to demonstrate a clear intention to grant it and the timing of acquisition prior to death, using substantial external evidence. Here, there was no intention to grant the account funds as a gift, as the addition was carried out for convenience due to the deterioration of the parents' physical and cognitive condition. The son's real-time conduct showed that he did not view the funds as a gift or an immediate transfer, and the bank documents themselves do not constitute a substitute for a will or evidence of proprietary ownership. Consequently, the son was ordered to return to the estate all funds withdrawn not for the father's benefit.