Legal Question in Criminal Law in Texas

Hacking in to bank accounts

My husband is executor of his mother's estate and just sold her home. The money is in a bank account waiting to be divided between four children after final expenses are figured by the attorney handling the estate. After these expenses are paid my husband will distribute the funds. His brother wants his money now and they had an argument over distributing the funds. The brother stated that he has looked at the bank account via the internet. Now, there has been NO activity in the account other than the deposit and personally I don't think his brother has the brains to hack into the account, but if he did, isn't that a felony? Can we have the bank check into it just in case? Thanks for your help.


Asked on 3/28/06, 11:38 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
TC Langford Langford Law Office

Re: Hacking in to bank accounts

Yes it is. Without going into extensive detail, have your husband verify with the bank that there has been no activity on the account, and that they verify no one else has access to the account. He may want to change the password access.

Your husband understands that he has a fiduciary duty to the estate and the remaining beneficiaries. When he is satisfied by the attorney's accounting that all debts of the estate are satisfied, then he can distribute the remaining proceeds.

The attorney may be able to guesstimate that remaining time and expenses, and notify all of the beneficiaries by letter. As you probably realize, however, the more the attorney is involved and the more time he/she spends, the more expenses there are that decrease the remainder and delay the distribution.

A detail you may want to remind your brother-in-law.

Good luck.

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Answered on 3/28/06, 11:56 am


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