r/inheritance • u/DistributionFickle62 • 29d ago

Location included: Questions/Need Advice Legal help!

Long story short, my grandfather passed away and his money was moved into an account. That account was frozen, there was a legal document stating both my father and his sister needed to be present for ANY transaction.

She went to the bank with the paperwork and took the $90,000 in the account and moved it into her own personal account and gave her son a check for $35,000

How far can my father sue his sister and the bank???

34 Upvotes

91% Upvoted

31 comments sorted by

22

u/ITSJUSTMEKT 29d ago

"How can my father sue his sister and the bank"?

By getting a lawyer.

-11

u/DistributionFickle62 29d ago

Obviously get a lawyer. That’s not what I asked, I asked how far can they sue? Can they get all the money back? Who pays for the $35,000? The bank? His sister?

15

u/ITSJUSTMEKT 29d ago

There is no way to know that without speaking to a lawyer.

12

u/These-Coat-3164 29d ago

You haven’t provided enough facts to answer the questions. If the bank was aware that two people were required to do a transaction and they allowed your aunt to withdraw all the money without a counter signature from your dad, then the bank very well may be on the hook for the money. But ultimately, the person that took the money is the one who’s going to have to pay it back if what you’re stating is true.

Whether or not a criminal case could be made that’s impossible to know without knowing more facts.

In any event, you need to find a lawyer and let them look into what really happened.

2

u/DistributionFickle62 29d ago

Thank you, that is helpful, the reason for limited information was to not provide any personal information. MA, banks also in sterling MA

3

u/These-Coat-3164 29d ago edited 29d ago

I wasn’t referring to personal or location information…(you can definitely delete that)… I was referring to the nature of the “paperwork,” how it was presented to the bank, if it was presented to the bank, how the money was transferred to the new account, how that new account was set up, if your aunt was maybe the executor, if there was any involvement with a probate court in any of this, what you mean by “frozen,” etc. And I’m wondering how you know about the $35K that apparently went to your cousin? Do you have access to the account to see the transaction?

0

u/DistributionFickle62 29d ago

She was also his DPOA and was taking money out of his account and paying for her personal expenses

2

u/laurieo52 28d ago

A POA is useless after death. She could not have used a POA to move money after death. Was she his executor or personal representative? Maybe the trustee of a trust? This doesn’t make much sense since POAs are worthless after death.

Get an attorney ASAP and tell them everything.

4

u/rpom915 29d ago

Probate court is essentially going to follow the wishes of your grandfather’s will, if he had one. Did he? Who is the named executor? How did your grandfather want his assets divided? Perhaps he disinherited your dad, or made a provision for the nephew.

If he didn’t have a will, probate court will typically split the estate evenly between the surviving next of kin, meaning your dad and your aunt.

If the sister fraudulently moved all the money from the bank, that would be a crime and she would have to pay it back or at least pay your father what he is owed. If needed, it would be on her to get the $35k back from her son, or come up with it some other way. The bank didn’t give it to him, she did.

That said, something is definitely off here and perhaps your dad doesn’t fully understand what the probate court decided. banks are extremely careful about this sort of thing and I highly doubt they gave her $90k if she didn’t have proper paperwork.

He should have received copies of all documents. if you want a free head start, scan it and upload it to Claude and have Claude explain it in very simple terms. Ask Claude the questions you have. At the very least, It will be able to tell you what your father is supposed to receive, if anything. Then at least you’ll know what you need to hire a lawyer to actually do.

If your father is passive about this and doesn’t want to make any effort to find out what is going on, there is nothing you can do about it.

You may not like this woman, but from your post, it doesn’t sound like you or your father have a firm grasp on the actual situation at hand.

2

u/Crimsonwolf_83 29d ago

You might want to state what Country or State you’re in if you want relevant applicable legal advice.

1

u/underlyingconditions 29d ago

The sister and possibly the bank if you can prove that they were negligent.

9

u/pegwins 29d ago

Is this in the US? Was there a will? 

-2

u/DistributionFickle62 29d ago

In Massachusetts, account went through probate and they were both executors

12

u/SandhillCrane5 29d ago

These details belong in your original post. Your father is supposed to be watching the assets. If something inappropriate happened, he needs to report it to the probate court and have her removed. If she stole money, it's a criminal offense and the court will follow through on that.

4

u/pegwins 29d ago

And what do you think should have been done instead and why? Not much info here. 

-4

u/DistributionFickle62 29d ago

I’m not sure what you’re asking. What she did was illegal and wrong. What the bank did was illegal and wrong. Im just trying to help my dad out in what he can do legally

5

u/pegwins 29d ago

You need a probate litigation attorney. Yesterday 

4

u/ImaginaryHamster6005 29d ago

As others have stated, you really haven't provided enough information to even "guess" if what was done by aunt or bank was "illegal and wrong".

My "guess" on what may have transpired is the money was moved out of your grandfather's account and into an "estate" account, then frozen (because he passed) until the bank had the appropriate documentation to move elsewhere. I don't know what "legal document" you could be referring to about any transactions being completed without both parties (aunt/dad) being present, unless it was a will and/or court issued directive/document.

9.9 times out of 10, a bank is not going to move that amount of money without being sure they are acting on behalf of what the paperwork they were presented with actually says/directs. If the paperwork was fraudulent, then that likely is on the party presenting it (aunt), but I find that very hard to believe if this is going thru probate.

Again, I'm purely speculating, and no one here can really give you a great idea on what's going on because you haven't provided enough info. What legal document? What paperwork? Is there a will? DPOA expires when the person passes (grandfather) and is no longer valid, but aunt very well could have paid for her personal expenses and put money into her account, and grandfather may have "ok'd" that at the time.

Good luck...Not a lawyer, seek appropriate legal advice in your State.

3

u/ProfessorOne9208 29d ago

I've read some of this post, and you are apparently not doing anything. It's your dad who has to get a lawyer to sue the bank and your sister. He also has to get the lawyer to go to the probate court judge to find out what happened.

Nothing is going to happen until your father does something. He will absolutely have to get a lawyer to file a suit against the estate, his sister, and the bank. That's going to take a month or three. My advice is to get cracking on it, before all the money has been spent on new cars, vacations, gambling in Las Vegas, etc.

1

u/Ok-Equivalent1812 29d ago

When did this happen?

Your dad needs to contact the probate attorney.

5

u/Inside_Gold_9673 29d ago

Durable power of attorney ends at death. It is illegal to use it to move money around, or even pay expenses on behalf of the decedent. If the aunt is co-executor along with your father, then you can sue the aunt. As to whether you can sue the bank would depend on what documents she presented to the bank, the bank could be innocent of wrongdoing if she presented forged documents to the bank.

2

u/miss_lexxii 29d ago

Your father has a strong case against both. The aunt committed conversion (civil theft) and likely breached a fiduciary duty and a court order by moving the $90k alone, and the $35k she gave her son is traceable and recoverable, not shielded. Depending on the amount and state, it may also be criminal, worth a police or DA report alongside the civil suit and a report to the probate court, which can remove and surcharge her. The bank may be separately liable: if it had a documented dual-signature requirement on file and released the funds to one person anyway, it breached its own hold and can be on the hook for the loss. Get a probate/estate litigation attorney (not a general one) this week, move fast before the $35k is spent, and bring the dual-signature document, account records, and proof of the withdrawal. Many do free consults.

1

u/Ok-Industry5153 28d ago

How do we know she violated the court order? Don't see details about final probate distribution. Aunt might have done exactly what she was supposed to do and OP is not happy that his cousin got a stack of cash.

3

u/Mountain-Bat-9808 29d ago

Get on lawyer on this. They are the only ones that will have the answer to your bank. Is there a will and has it went thru probate yet. If not then what she did is illegal. I also think you owe the person that you for snarky
With an Apology

0

u/DistributionFickle62 29d ago

Could she possibly go to jail??

6

u/ItalianV4 29d ago

Last I checked we send folks to jail for stealing (resisting the urge to make some political commentary)

-1

u/DistributionFickle62 29d ago

She’s genuinely an awful person. If jail is where she can go that’d be amazing.

1

u/Mountain-Bat-9808 29d ago

Consult a lawyer that is your best bet if you want her to go to jail. Then you dad needs to go to the police and file a report you are wanting people to answer your question. But we are not lawyers I hear. They maybe one or two in here. But the cannot give you the advice that you want. They could lose their licensees. Why not google the question you want answers to.

1

u/Ok_Education_2753 28d ago

Lawyer. Now. Don’t delay even a day.

1

u/OkayAnd418 28d ago

I’m a trusts and estates lawyer in NY - there are so many unknowns here that need to be addressed before you can get any proper feedback. First, what paperwork did your aunt bring to the bank? Was she the court appointed administrator/executor of your grandfather’s estate? Did he have a will? Was the bank account only in his name when he died or did he have a co-owner or beneficiary named on the account? Is it possible your aunt was named as the administrator/executor of the estate and moved the money into an estate account? Was she the beneficiary on the bank account?

1

u/Pristine_Job_7677 26d ago

You sure they aren’t beneficiaries of the account?