By: Seliger S.B. No. 714 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT relating to certain account disclosures provided by a financial institution to a customer. BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: SECTION 1. Section 113.052, Estates Code, is amended to read as follows: Sec. 113.052. FORM. A financial institution may use the following form to establish the type of account selected by a party: UNIFORM SINGLE-PARTY OR MULTIPLE-PARTY ACCOUNT SELECTION FORM NOTICE: The type of account you select may determine how property passes on your death. Your will may not control the disposition of funds held in some of the following accounts. You may choose to designate one or more convenience signers on an account, even if the account is not a convenience account. A designated convenience signer may make transactions on your behalf during your lifetime, but does not own the account during your lifetime. The designated convenience signer owns the account on your death only if the convenience signer is also designated as a P.O.D. payee or trust account beneficiary. Select one of the following accounts by placing your initials next to the account selected: ___ (1) SINGLE-PARTY ACCOUNT WITHOUT "P.O.D." (PAYABLE ON DEATH) DESIGNATION. The party to the account owns the account. On the death of the party, ownership of the account passes as a part of the party's estate under the party's will or by intestacy. Enter the name of the party: ________________________________________________________________ Enter the name(s) of the convenience signer(s), if you want one or more convenience signers on this account: ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ___ (2) SINGLE-PARTY ACCOUNT WITH "P.O.D." (PAYABLE ON DEATH) DESIGNATION. The party to the account owns the account. On the death of the party, ownership of the account passes to the P.O.D. beneficiaries of the account. The account is not a part of the party's estate. Enter the name of the party: ________________________________________________________________ Enter the name or names of the P.O.D. beneficiaries: ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ Enter the name(s) of the convenience signer(s), if you want one or more convenience signers on this account: ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ___ (3) MULTIPLE-PARTY ACCOUNT WITHOUT RIGHT OF SURVIVORSHIP. The parties to the account own the account in proportion to the parties' net contributions to the account. The financial institution may pay any sum in the account to a party at any time. On the death of a party, the party's ownership of the account passes as a part of the party's estate under the party's will or by intestacy. Enter the names of the parties: ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ Enter the name(s) of the convenience signer(s), if you want one or more convenience signers on this account: ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ___ (4) MULTIPLE-PARTY ACCOUNT WITH RIGHT OF SURVIVORSHIP. The parties to the account own the account in proportion to the parties' net contributions to the account. The financial institution may pay any sum in the account to a party at any time. On the death of a party, the party's ownership of the account passes to the surviving parties. Enter the names of the parties: ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ Enter the name(s) of the convenience signer(s), if you want one or more convenience signers on this account: ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ___ (5) MULTIPLE-PARTY ACCOUNT WITH RIGHT OF SURVIVORSHIP AND P.O.D. (PAYABLE ON DEATH) DESIGNATION. The parties to the account own the account in proportion to the parties' net contributions to the account. The financial institution may pay any sum in the account to a party at any time. On the death of the last surviving party, the ownership of the account passes to the P.O.D. beneficiaries. Enter the names of the parties: ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ Enter the name or names of the P.O.D. beneficiaries: ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ Enter the name(s) of the convenience signer(s), if you want one or more convenience signers on this account: ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ___ (6) CONVENIENCE ACCOUNT. The parties to the account own the account. One or more convenience signers to the account may make account transactions for a party. A convenience signer does not own the account. On the death of the last surviving party, ownership of the account passes as a part of the last surviving party's estate under the last surviving party's will or by intestacy. The financial institution may pay funds in the account to a convenience signer before the financial institution receives notice of the death of the last surviving party. The payment to a convenience signer does not affect the parties' ownership of the account. Enter the names of the parties: ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ Enter the name(s) of the convenience signer(s): ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ___ (7) TRUST ACCOUNT. The parties named as trustees to the account own the account in proportion to the parties' net contributions to the account. A trustee may withdraw funds from the account. A beneficiary may not withdraw funds from the account before all trustees are deceased. On the death of the last surviving trustee, the ownership of the account passes to the beneficiary. The trust account is not a part of a trustee's estate and does not pass under the trustee's will or by intestacy, unless the trustee survives all of the beneficiaries and all other trustees. Enter the name or names of the trustees: ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ Enter the name or names of the beneficiaries: ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ Enter the name(s) of the convenience signer(s), if you want one or more convenience signers on this account: ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ACKNOWLEDGMENT: I acknowledge that I have read each paragraph of this form and have received disclosure of the ownership rights to the accounts listed above. I have placed my initials next to the type of account I want. _______________________ Signature SECTION 2. Section 113.053, Estates Code, is amended to read as follows: Sec. 113.053. REQUIRED DISCLOSURE; USE OF FORM. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (d), a [A] financial institution shall disclose the information provided in this subchapter to a customer before [at the time] the customer selects or modifies an account. (a-1) A financial institution is considered to have disclosed the information provided in this subchapter if: (1) the financial institution uses the form provided by Section 113.052; and (2) the customer signs the acknowledgment provided at the end [places the customer's initials to the right of each paragraph] of the form. (b) If a financial institution varies the format of the form provided by Section 113.052, the financial institution shall disclose [may make disclosures in the account agreement or in any other form that discloses] the information provided by this subchapter[. Disclosures under this subsection must: [(1) be given] separately from other account information except that the financial institution may disclose that information as part of other account documentation if the disclosures are the first items of the documentation[; [(2) be provided before account selection or modification; [(3) be printed in 14-point boldfaced type; and [(4) if the discussions that precede the account opening or modification are conducted primarily in a language other than English, be in that language]. (c) The financial institution shall notify the customer of the type of account the customer selected. This requirement is satisfied by providing the customer with a copy of the account opening or modification documentation, as appropriate, in paper or electronic format. (d) If a type of multiple-party account is not available from a financial institution, the financial institution is not required to make a disclosure about that type of account. (e) This section does not apply to: (1) a credit union; or (2) an account that is opened or modified by a customer who: (A) is a legal entity, including a governmental entity; or (B) is acting as a legal representative for another person. SECTION 3. This Act applies only to a financial institution account opened or modified on or after the effective date of this Act. A financial institution account opened or modified before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the account was opened or modified, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.