A deposit can be gifted to another person: the Supreme Court changed the approach

The right to demand a deposit from a bank can be gifted to another person. This conclusion was formulated by the Joint Chamber of the Civil Court of Cassation within the Supreme Court in case No. 359/523/23.

This is not about the physical transfer of money that is already in the bank, but about the property right of claim to a financial institution. It is such a right that can be the subject of a gift agreement.

This is an important approach for situations when a depositor decides to transfer the right to his deposit to another person during his lifetime.

The case of a deposit for 300 thousand hryvnias

In February 2020, a man opened a bank deposit for 300 thousand hryvnias at 5.70% per annum.

On August 24, 2022, he concluded a notarized gift agreement with his daughter. The document stated that the father was transferring UAH 300,000 to her along with accrued interest that was in the deposit account.

Later, the husband died.

After his death, the daughter applied to the bank with a request to reissue the deposit in her name or to terminate the contract early and pay the funds.

The bank refused.

The financial institution believed that during the depositor’s lifetime, the daughter did not apply to the bank and did not actually receive the money. Accordingly, in the bank’s opinion, the deposit remained with the father, and after his death it should have become part of the inheritance.

Therefore, the daughter should have received these funds already in the order of inheritance.

What the courts decided

The court of first instance refused to satisfy the woman’s claim. The court of appeal agreed with this decision.

The courts proceeded from the fact that after the conclusion of the donation agreement, neither the father nor the daughter applied to the bank during his lifetime for the actual execution of the agreement.

However, the Joint Chamber of the Civil Court of Cassation did not agree with this approach.

The Supreme Court explained: after depositing funds, the depositor has not only money, but also a property right to claim against the bank.

This includes the right to demand the return of the deposit amount, payment of interest stipulated by the contract and other due payments.

Civil legislation allows for the donation of not only things, but also property rights. Therefore, the depositor can give another person the right to demand the return of the deposit from the bank.

What has changed

The key difference of the new approach is that it is not necessary to physically transfer money to the gifted person if the subject of the contract is the right to claim against the bank.

That is, the courts must establish what exactly was donated under the contract.

If the parties have transferred the property right to claim, the funds may continue to be physically in the deposit account.

The Joint Chamber of the CCS of the Supreme Court at the same time departed from the previous conclusion of the Supreme Court, formulated in case No. 700/2095/15 of May 15, 2019.

Thus, the right to a bank deposit can act as an independent object of civil turnover and be the subject of a donation agreement.

Is it enough to simply draw up a donation agreement

At the same time, the decision of the Supreme Court does not mean that the bank is automatically obliged to pay the deposit to anyone who provides a donation agreement.

In each specific case, it is necessary to establish:

whether the donation agreement was properly concluded;

what exactly the parties determined as the subject of the donation;

whether the property right of the claim to the bank was transferred;

whether the person gifted acquired the corresponding property right.

Therefore, the key point is not the fact of the physical transfer of money, but the legal content of the donation agreement and what right the depositor transferred to another person.