Legal Question in Criminal Law in Michigan

My husband has a settlement for the wrongful death of his father. When he turned 18 in 1998 he was to receive 1000$ a month for 4 years. He also received 5 year payments starting at 22 years old. He's now 33 and recently just sold a payment to JGWentworth to get a home. My husband was never told about the 1000$ a month for 4 years but his mother DID tell him about the money he would be getting every 5 years starting at 22. We found out from the paper work JG sent us. He then called genworth and they told him a account in HIS NAME was opened and that's where the money went in April 2000 after the account he requested the checks to go in May 1999 was denied because only his name can be on the account. Not him AND HIS MOM (it was her personal checking account). My husband never sent a request to have direct deposit in his moms account. He had no idea about this money till now! She somehow cashed all his checks that came in the mail from May 98 till the first direct deposit of 1000$ cleared in April 2000 in a bank account in my husbands name. He lived with his mother and thinks maybe he opened a bank account when he was 18 and used it a month then moved out and never closed it and she used it herself to deposit the checks once he moved. (He was 18. Not very responsible at all.) BUT hes not 100% that he opened a account back then at all. Just trying to make sense of how she has access to a account thats in his name only. The bank is now a different bank and they could only pull records back to 2005 from Jan to June. They have no info on WHEN the account was opened. Didn't have his social sec #, only his statements for 6 months that were active n being used but not by my husband. May2005 has his first lump sum of 22,500$. My husband cant recall how he was given the money but his mom was involved but thought nothing of it because she ALWAYS dealt with his finacial issues for him because he was pretty irresponible. He didnt question anything because he 1.) would never suspect foul play from his own mother he was very close to. 2.) thought this was his first payment. Now on these statements the check numbers are in the 2000. Check #2017 was cashed for 800$ for example. It seems she used this account and basically drained it because he had the money he knew about being deposited. The account was closed june 2005 and he dont recall EVER going into this bank. Is it possible she opened this account in his name when he was underage? My husband is disgusted and hasn't spoke to his mother a year prior to us finding this out. (Obviously a rotten person all the way around) what laws has she broke? What's our next step? Genworth is sending us a copy of the actual file since there was only so much she could pull up on her computer screen. Any way to get info from the bank about the account BEFORE 2005? Please feel free to ask questions. Our brains are just fried thinking this through and trying to connect the dots. Thanks- Paula Marie


Asked on 7/13/13, 12:32 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Timothy Klisz Klisz Law Office, PLLC

It all depends on whether a conservatorship was set up in court or handled with court approval. Anything that happened after 18 is completely legal because he was an adult at that point. I would be happy to discuss further with you.

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Answered on 7/14/13, 7:58 pm


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