Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes

20 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 6301 (2026)

Definitions.

✓ current as of May 2026

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CHAPTER 63

MULTIPLE-PARTY ACCOUNTS

Sec.

6301. Definitions.

6302. Applicability of chapter.

6303. Ownership during lifetime.

6304. Right of survivorship.

6305. Form of account.

6306. Accounts and transfers nontestamentary.

Enactment. Chapter 63 was added July 9, 1976, P.L.547, No.134, effective September 1, 1976.

§ 6301. Definitions.

The following words and phrases when used in this chapter shall have, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, the meanings given to them in this section:

"Account" means a contract of deposit of funds between a depositor and a financial institution, and includes a checking account, savings account, certificate of deposit, share account and other like arrangements.

"Beneficiary" means a person named in a trust account as one for whom a party to the account is named as trustee.

"Financial institution" means any organization authorized to do business under State or Federal laws relating to financial institutions, including, without limitation, banks and trust companies, savings banks, building and loan associations, savings and loan companies or associations and credit unions.

"Joint account" means an account payable on request to one or more of two or more parties whether or not mention is made of any right of survivorship.

"Multiple-party account" is either a joint account or a trust account. It does not include accounts established for deposit of funds of a partnership, joint venture, or other association for business purposes, or accounts controlled by one or more persons as the duly authorized agent or trustee for a corporation, unincorporated association, charitable or civic organization or a regular fiduciary or trust account where the relationship is established other than by deposit agreement.

"Net contribution" of a party to a joint account as of any given time is the sum of all deposits thereto made by or for him, less all withdrawals made by or for him which have not been paid to or applied to the use of any other party, plus a pro rata share of any interest or dividends included in the current balance. The term includes, in addition, any proceeds of life insurance added to the account by reason of the death of the party whose net contribution is in question.

"Party" means a person who, by the terms of the account, has a present right, subject to request, to payment from a multiple-party account. A beneficiary of a trust account is a party only after the account becomes payable to him by reason of his surviving the original trustee. Unless the context otherwise requires, it includes a guardian, personal representative, assignee, or attaching creditor, of a party. It also includes a person identified as a trustee of an account for another whether or not a beneficiary is named, but it does not include any named beneficiary unless he has a present right of withdrawal.

"Payment" of a sum on deposit includes withdrawal, payment on check or other directive of a party, any pledge of a sum on deposit by a party, and any set-off or reduction or other disposition of all or part of an account pursuant to a pledge.

"Request" means a proper request for withdrawal, or a check or order for payment, which complies with all conditions of the account, including special requirements concerning necessary signatures and regulations of the financial institution; but if the financial institution conditions withdrawal or payment on advance notice, for purposes of this chapter the request for withdrawal or payment is treated as immediately effective and a notice of intent to withdraw is treated as a request for withdrawal.

"Sum on deposit" means the balance payable on a multiple-party account including interest, dividends, and in addition any life insurance proceeds added to the account by reason of the death of a party.

"Trust account" means an account in the name of one or more parties as trustee for one or more beneficiaries where the relationship is established by the form of the account and the deposit agreement with the financial institution and there is no subject of the trust other than the sum on deposit in the account; it is not essential that payment to the beneficiary be mentioned in the deposit agreement. A trust account does not include a regular trust account under a testamentary trust or a trust agreement which has significance apart from the account, or a fiduciary account arising from a fiduciary relation such as attorney-client.

"Withdrawal" includes payment to a third person pursuant to check or other directive of a party.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 27 cases (2 in the last 5 years), 1983–2023 · leading case: In Re Novosielski, 992 A.2d 89 (Pa. 2010).

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In Re Novosielski, 992 A.2d 89 (Pa. 2010). · cites it 7× “(quoting 20 Pa.C.S. § 6301). In exploring this issue, the court examined our plurality decision in Deutsch, Larrimore & Farnish, P.”

Deutsch, Larrimore & Farnish, P.C. v. Joyce & William Johnson, 848 A.2d 137 (Pa. 2004). · cites it 8× “20 Pa.C.S. § 6301. Excluded are deposits of partnerships, joint ventures, or other associations for business purposes; accounts controlled by one or more persons as the duly authorized agent or trustee for a corporation, unincorporated association, charitable or civic…”

In re Est. of Strahsmeier, 54 A.3d 359 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2012). · cites it 3× “20 Pa.C.S. § 6301. (b) Trust account. — At the death of the trustee or the survivor of two or more trustees, any sum remaining on deposit belongs to the person or persons named as beneficiaries, if surviving, or to the survivor or survivors of them if one or more die before the…”

Kupersmit v. Comm'r, 2016 T.C. Memo. 202 (Tax Ct. 2016). · cites it 8× “Title 20 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes and Consolidated Statutes Annotated, 20 Pa. Stat. and Cons.”

Finkel v. Polichuk (In re Polichuk), 506 B.R. 405 (Bankr. E.D. Pa. 2014). “Even assuming that the Debtor and Marina were not married, Larisa argues that no transfer occurred when she was added to the 7348 Schwab Account by virtue of the Pennsylvania Multiple Party Accounts Act, 20 Pa.C.S. § 6301, et seq. (“the MPAA”). The MPAA instructs that there is a…”

In Re: Est. of Harold E. Rood, 121 A.3d 1104 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2015). “at 873 (quoting 20 Pa.C.S. § 6301). Self-evidently, if this expanded, or recognized an expansion in, the range of accounts subject to the Totten trust designation, it did so only incrementally.”

Lessner v. Rubinson, 592 A.2d 678 (Pa. 1991). “2d 756 (1976); 20 Pa.C.S. § 6301. 7 . Ms. Rubinson also argues in her brief that Mr.”

Geertson v. McCrea, 37 Pa. D. & C.3d 583 (1983). · cites it 4× “Defendant has raised as an affirmative defense the Multiple-Party Accounts Act, 20 Pa.C.S. §6301, et seq., which entitles a party to withdraw from a joint account in proportion to his net contribution during his lifetime.”

Cohen v. Sikirica, 487 B.R. 615 (W.D. Pa. 2013). “The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has not addressed the issue since the 1976 passage of the Multiple-Party Accounts Act (“MPAA”), 20 Pa.C.S. § 6301, et seq. Section 6303(a) provides that “[a] joint account belongs, during the lifetime of all parties, to the parties in proportion to…”

Balazick v. Ireton, 541 A.2d 1130 (Pa. 1988). “*133 20 Pa.C.S. § 6301. Thus, contrary to the determination of Superior Court, since the repurchase agreement in question was not unlike a share account or certificate of deposit and was titled in the names of Lois Ireton or Helen Balazick, it was a joint account.”

Krasny v. Gi Nam (In Re Gi Nam), 257 B.R. 749 (Bankr. E.D. Pa. 2000). “20 Pa.C.S. § 6301 (Supp.2000). Section 6303, entitled “Ownership during lifetime,” provides, in relevant part: Trust account.”

Lessner v. Rubinson, 555 A.2d 193 (Pa. 1989). “" 20 Pa.C.S. § 6301 (emphasis added). 8 . Thus, the record before us shows only that William handed the C.”

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