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My money taken from joint bank account

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mlaemmle

Guest
What is the name of your state? Washington

Probably six years back I opened up a checking account with Washington Mutual. At the time, for some reason or another--no credit cards, not enough identification, something or other--I had to hold the account jointly with somebody, and because i was in the company of my sister-in-law, and because she was someone whom i trusted, I chose her. As a joint account holder, she had the right to make withdrawals, transfers, deposits and the like. Now, she really had no involvement with the account, and was there simply because of the formal requirements of WaMu--it was all my money going in, and all my money coming out. My sister-in-law, not too far back, transferred many of hundreds dollars from the account we "shared" to one of her other accounts that i had no access to. She withdrew the money from that account and used it on who knows what. Contacting Washington Mutual, I found that my sister-in-law seemed to have a right to withdraw the money--I didn't go too much into the details of the issue, just asked a broad question about the rights of "secondary" holders of joint accounts. After much bad blood, we seem to be working the issue out, my brother claiming he will replace the money, and I would prefer not to get courts involved. However, should the need arise, I would like to know: did my sister-in-law really have a right to money in that account? If my brother refused to replace the money his wife withdrew, would i have any legal recourse?
 


L

loku

Guest
DID MY SISTER-IN-LAW REALLY HAVE A RIGHT TO MONEY IN THAT ACCOUNT? IF MY BROTHER REFUSED TO REPLACE THE MONEY HIS WIFE WITHDREW, WOULD I HAVE ANY LEGAL RECOURSE?

Your sister-in-law had no right to take the money, and if you could prove the understanding you had with her, she would be liable to you for the money. However, the bank is not liable to you. It was proper for them to release the funds to a person listed as joint owner.
 
M

mlaemmle

Guest
Thanks very much for the response. Yeah, i never really assumed the bank might have any liability, I pretty much opened the account with a full understanding that my sister-in-law could withdraw funds. But the assumption between us, if unspoken, was that she never would. On that note, how successful is it, generally speaking, to prove agreements in small claims courts that have no documentation? And in this case, if i had to be honest, we never even had a so-called "gentleman's agreement" on it, or handshake contract, or whatever. We never really talked about it at all--it was just sort of assumed--but some vague "assumption" seems to have little legal significance--seems like a judge might get a little snicker out of "unspoken but assumed" agreements. What do you think?
 

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