John Henry Lightbourne v Bank of the Bahamas Ltd

JurisdictionBahamas
JudgeWinder, J
Judgment Date20 December 2021
CourtSupreme Court (Bahamas)
Docket Number2016/CLE/gen/00755

IN THE SUPREME COURT

Before

Hon. Mr. Justice Ian R. Winder

2016/CLE/gen/00755

Between
John Henry Lightbourne (As Personal Representative of the Estate of Wellington Lightbourne, deceased)
Plaintiff
and
Bank of the Bahamas Limited
First Defendant

and

Leona Burnsioe
Socond Defendant

and

Antonia Wilson
Third Defendant
Appearances:

Gregory Ambrister for the Plaintiff

Mlchela Ellis for the First Defendant

Jaunlanne Dorsctt for the Second and Third Defendants

Winder, J

This is my brief decision on the Plaintiffs claim to ownership in a joint fixed deposit

account established in the name of Wellington Samuel Lightbourne (the deceased) and

the Second and Third Defendants. He also claims against the First Defendant bank for

the negligent management of the account.

The Background

1

The background to this action was succinctly laid out in the First Defendant's closing submissions and I gratefully repeat it here:

2

On 27 January 1992, the deceased became a customer of the First Defendant's Inagua Branch by the opening of a savings account, namely account number 5704341.

3

On 27 April, 2000, the Second Defendant became a customer of the First Defendant's Inagua Branch when she was added as a party to account number 5704341, with the express consent of the deceased, thereby creating a joint savings account.

4

Sometime in or after 2006, the First Defendant underwent an internal exercise in which it changed the account numbers of all bank accounts held with the First Defendant at that time. By consequence, the account number of the joint savings account was changed from 5704341 to 5510003204.

5

On 8 September, 2011, the joint savings account was credited with One Hundred Forty-Five Thousand, Eight Hundred Ninety-Four Bahamian Dollars and Forty — Three Cents (BSD $145,894.43).

6

On 27 September, 2011, the deceased, the Second Defendant and the Third Defendant opened a joint fixed deposit account, namely account number 161132Y11270002, with the First Defendant.

7

In order to facilitate the opening of the joint fixed deposit account, the joint fixed deposit account holders signed a “Joint and Several To Open Account(s)” form dated 27 September, 2011. This form governed the operation of the account.

8

Additionally, the joint fixed deposit account was governed by the “Term Deposit Terms and Conditions Agreement”, a copy of which was signed by the joint fixed deposit account holders on 27 September, 2011.

9

The initial deposit on the joint fixed deposit account was One Hundred Thousand Bahamian Dollars ($100,000.00). Those funds were transferred from the joint savings account held by the deceased and the Second Defendant. The transfer was affected pursuant to a “Term Deposit” form dated 27 September, 2011, signed by the deceased.

10

The deceased died on 23 December, 2012. The First Defendant's records reveal that at that date, the total amount on the joint savings account was $583.17. The total amount on the joint fixed deposit account, at that date, was $93,250.00. The accounts remained opened after the death of the deceased and transactions continued to occur on both accounts in respect of the surviving account holders.

The Claim
11

The relief sought by the Plaintiff in his Re-Re-Amended Statement of Claim are the following:

  • (1) An Order that the First Defendant pay to the estate of the deceased the funds that it paid to the Second and Third Defendants with compound interest;

  • (2) A declaration that the beneficial interest in the monies held at the date of the death of the deceased in the said joint savings and fixed deposit accounts did not pass to the Second and Third Defendants by survivorship and that the monies are held by the Second and Third Defendants on trust for the Plaintiff in his capacity as personal representative of the deceased's estate; and

  • (3) An order that the Second and Third Defendants, jointly and severally do pay any sum the court may find is due to the deceased's estate, within fourteen (14) days from the date of judgment.

The Issues
12

The agreed issues for resolution by the Court were the following:

  • (a) Whether the deceased voluntarily executed the account opening documents;

  • (b) Whether the First Defendant managed the account negligently or in breach of their mandate; and,

  • (c) Whether there was a resulting trust in favor of the estate as beneficiary.

13

The action was vigorously defended by the Defendants.

14

At trial the Plaintiff gave evidence on behalf of the estate. Majorie Cartwright Wilson gave evidence for the First Defendant. The Second and Third Defendants gave evidence in their case.

Analysis & Disposition
15

This is a dispute among family members. Plaintiff, the brother of the deceased. The Second and Third Defendant are mother and daughter. The deceased (as is the Plaintiff) is the Uncle of the Second Defendant and the Granduncle of the Third Defendant. I am satisfied that this matter is to be resolved entirely upon the Courts assessment of the facts. I have no hesitation in stating that I preferred the evidence of the witnesses for the Defendants.

16

The Plaintiff was clearly a stranger to the transactions the subject of this dispute and could provide no evidence as to the circumstances under which the account was opened. He resided in Nassau whilst the deceased, the Second Defendant and Third Defendant resided in Inagua. The evidence, which I accept, is that the deceased treated the Second Defendant as his daughter, having raised her.

17

In respect to the agreed issues for the trial I find as follows:

  • a) Wellington Lightbourne voluntarily executed the account opening documents. I accept the evidence of the Second Defendant that she witnessed the signing of the document. There is no acceptable evidence to the contrary. I also accepted the evidence that the joint saving account and the fixed deposit account were governed by and operated in accordance with the Joint and Several To Open Accounts form and the Term Deposit Terms and Conditions Agreement. Section 5 of the Joint and Several To Open Accounts form provided:

    In the event of the death or deaths of any one or more of us you are empowered to pay to or to the order of the survivor(s) or to the executors or...

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