Dad depositing gifts from my grandmother I'm 23.

[jimjoe]

STATE- NY


Ever since I was born my grandmother has sent a $10,000 annual gift to all her grandchildren. This money was always deposited into a custodial account for me-until my parents got divorced about 10 years ago. My father's mother was giving the gifts and at that point the checks stopped-or so we thought. I spent the money in the account on college tuition and living expenses with my father contributing to medical and other expenses as applicable according to his divorce aggreement with my mother.

I recently found out from my cousins that my grandmother never stopped sending the gifts and I confirmed this with my grandmother. She started sending the checks to my dad instead. The checks were always written in my name. I confronted my father and he said he had deposited the checks each year into his own checking account and had used the money to pay for expenses of mine. He did not know how much money it was and would not send me anything left over. As recently as two weeks ago my dad recieved a check from my grandmother in my name, failed to inform me, and deposited it into his own account. I'm now 23 years old. The only expenses he has covered in the last 10 years he was obligated to under his divorce settlement with my mother. Since i turned 18 I have covered all my college/living expenses using the original money in my custodial account and i am about to run out.

Do I have a right to recover the amount of all the checks over the last 10 years?

 

[Michael Wechsler]

STATE- NY


Ever since I was born my grandmother has sent a $10,000 annual gift to all her grandchildren. This money was always deposited into a custodial account for me-until my parents got divorced about 10 years ago. My father's mother was giving the gifts and at that point the checks stopped-or so we thought. I spent the money in the account on college tuition and living expenses with my father contributing to medical and other expenses as applicable according to his divorce aggreement with my mother.

I recently found out from my cousins that my grandmother never stopped sending the gifts and I confirmed this with my grandmother. She started sending the checks to my dad instead. The checks were always written in my name. I confronted my father and he said he had deposited the checks each year into his own checking account and had used the money to pay for expenses of mine. He did not know how much money it was and would not send me anything left over. As recently as two weeks ago my dad recieved a check from my grandmother in my name, failed to inform me, and deposited it into his own account. I'm now 23 years old. The only expenses he has covered in the last 10 years he was obligated to under his divorce settlement with my mother. Since i turned 18 I have covered all my college/living expenses using the original money in my custodial account and i am about to run out.

Do I have a right to recover the amount of all the checks over the last 10 years?

$100,000 is a great deal of money. Before you do anything, remember the repercussions of what will happen and that you must take care in handling it.

FIRST: Have you or can you speak to your grandmother? You should confirm the existence of these checks before you move forward.

(1) Have you confronted your father about the deposit of the check into his account?
(2) Have you contacted the bank to find out how money that legally belongs to you could be transferred to your father's account? One path of recourse might be against the bank.
(3) Do you have an antagonistic relationship with your father?
(4) Do you have any siblings?

This is a very sensitive matter. On the surface it would seem that your father has committed what may be an illegal act. I'm sympathetic to a parent who spent his life raising you. But there is something awry. He's cashing checks and not telling you about them at all?

I think you may want to speak to an attorney if you can confirm that this practice has been going on for years. An attorney may take your case on "contingency" (a percentage of proceeds and not up front per hour work) because there is potentially $100,000+ for recovery. Perhaps this may involve freezing your father's accounts in order to determine where the money went. If he isn't going to tell you then perhaps you need to do what you want to do. I would also consult family members - if you can trust them. I wish you the best of luck here but would advise you to proceed very carefully before you upset the delicate balance of your family and relationship - make sure it is for good reason.

 

[jimjoe]

I have confirmed the gifts with my grandmother and confronted my father. He claims that since he has spent more than that on child support the money is all gone. I don't really want to take legal action against my dad but he won't budge and it is a lot of money and I could certainly use it. He said he would just endorse the checks and deposit them into his checking account and the bank would never ask any questions. Is there a way to take action against the bank without my dad getting into trouble?

 

[lwpat]

There is no way to take on the bank without getting your father in trouble. You need to get your grandmother to agree to get copies of all the checks from her bank. Total them up and then have a talk with your father. This is a criminal act and he can be prosecuted but usually the police will not get involved unless the bank presses the issue.