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What should I do?
I'm going to make this brief, yet informative as possible. This happened all around 2-3 years ago.
It all started when my mother passed away and we were left with her life insurance benefits. My dad, brother, and me each got around $141,000. At the time I was around 20 or 21 and to me it was quite a lot of money and wasn't sure what to do with it. I wanted to go back to school but my dad told me to wait. So he helped me and my brother set up a money market account with Citizens Bank that way it would sit there and build interest. I wanna say that he might of been the primary owner of the three accounts he set up and we were the secondary owners because we had the ability to withdraw and deposit money into the money market account. Plus I have a document stating that the life insurance was to be divided and entitled to the following beneficiaries correspondingly.
Later on he suggested the idea that we all chip in to pay off the mortgage of our house and that he would put all of our names on the deed. Some time has passed and I asked my dad when we were gonna follow up with it and told me he was getting the paperwork for it. So one day I checked my bank account and noticed my money market was empty and had been withdrawn and so has my brother's.
Basically my dad withdrew from me and my brother's money market accounts, ALL the money that was entitled to us, deposited onto his account and ended up paying off the mortgage himself and only putting his name on the deed of the house, not honoring the deal we all came to.
So I confronted my dad about it saying he didn't actually pay it off with his own money, the deed should have three of our names on it, but since he did not honor the deal then we should have our money refunded back to us but he won't do it.
So right now he is a different person from before and I believe he has intentions of selling the house we are all living in because all of us can't live together due to conflicting reasons. Unfortunately there is no contract of physical documentation about the deal being recorded, it was more of a "he said this" situation. Basically I've been lied to, stolen from, and cheated by my own dad which became heavily influenced by the large sum of money that was left to us.
What should I do? What can I do? Am I able to put a Lien on the house before he sells it? Or should I get a lawyer involved and attempt to sue him? Go to a debt collection agency? How do I go about this?
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im going thru something similar right now with my moms stuff, she passed away in 2012 and im just now getting the clearance to get her 401k and im her next of kin on paper!
for this, you should try to contact your local legal aid. they can see you for free and see what they can do. just call them and say you like to find out who you talk to about a legal situation where family has scammed family, and just see what they say. They'll point you in the right direction.
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All I csn add to what advice man said is that I know from having children who had their own bank acccounts with accident money deposited in them is that until they turned 18, they had to have a joint account with a parent on it. If you & brother were 18 or older at the time, there was absolutely no reason for Dad to be on your account, no reason to have joint account with him. It might come down to his word against yours. However there is legal paperwork that acknowledges each of you recieved a 3rd of the money. As to what rights there are after that, you will definitely need a lawyer to go after. Luckily, its not just the word of one person against Dad but two.
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You and your brother need to speak to a lawyer as it appears your father has swindled you two out of your inheritance. You might also talk with the local prosecutor, District or State's Attorney, to see if your father broken any laws when he did this as it appears this was his intention all along. If he has you have leverage against him to remortgage the house and return what he stole or go to prison.
As to the bank accounts it depends on the Banking laws in your state and how the accounts were set up. Most likely he has done nothing wrong in withdrawing the funds without your knowledge as it sounds like the accounts were set up in joint. Which gives him full access.
It is my opinion that you would have to prove he took advantage of you and your brother in some manner when the accounts were set up to be successful at trial. Now some states like the one I live in have verbal contracts being binding. If a third party is knowledgeable of the verbal commitment you, your your brother and your father agreed to the court may be inclined to enforces it if your state enforces verbal contracts.
These are all things you need to discuss with a lawyer. Most lawyers will meet with you without charge for the first meeting to access your case. In a case such as yours if they feel they can win the case for you they will take it on contingency. Meaning the get a percentage of what the court's orders your father to return to you.
It is well worth your while to discuss this situation with an attorney and get competent advice. Our advice while well meaning is not the type of advice you need or what can be considered competent advice.
Good luck, you deserve to win back what your father stole from you. If it helps any I know exactly how you feel as my father stole from me. Unfortunately I did not have the recourse available to me that you might have available to you. So please check with an attorney. If you do not know one call you local Bar Association for a referral.
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This is quite a tricky situation and although I am no expert at all in these matters (even less since it's not my own country) I strongly suggest you seek legal advice on what your options are in this matter. Also speak to your bank about the withdrawal and question it - ask them who authorised it and how your dad was able to empty the account without you and your brother being informed.
Also, looking at what you have said, you do have legal paperwork to show your brother and you were entitled to a sum of money when your mother passed away. That money was then yours, even after it was placed into the bank. In my opinion, even if your dad had the ability to withdraw the money from your accounts that does not make that money his (especially if he did so without your consent and your bank also failed to inform you of such a large transaction being conducted). You should have some kind of legal right in all of this to be able to get your money back since it was, in the most basic of terms, stolen from you. I strongly suggest you speak to a solicitor or lawyer as soon as you can.
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