In-Laws coerced mentally disabled husband into signing over social security check

[Takari]

What is the name of your state? Georgia

(For a reference, every time I refer to my husband's parents, I mean the group: Mother, Grandfather, and Grandmother. As his father died, and those three were acting as his parents during this whole matter.)

THE BACKGROUND:
My husband is receiving Social Security Disability Insurance payments for a physical and mental disability from a birth defect. He was judged in that case to be mentally incapable of financial decisions and financial management, and I was granted guardianship over the usage of his disability payments for his benefit.

Recently, my husband has been granted a second government check, Supplemental Security Income, for survivorship over his father's death (back when he was living with his parents). I do not know much about this case, other than that he will not be receiving monthly payments. However, even though he will not be receiving monthly payments, he was going to receive back-payment for the time before we got married and he was living with his parents.

For his SSI, he got his first back-payment check for $18,000 two weeks ago.

THE PROBLEM:
My in-laws, that in being, his parents, coerced him into signing over that $18,000 SSI check to be deposited in his mother's account.

Due to his mental disability, it is fairly easy to coerce him into doing anything. Even though he is 25 years old, married, and not living in their house, they can still tell him that he'll get in trouble, they'll punish or ground him or something, and he'll do whatever they tell him to do. He thinks they can force him do whatever they want to make him do because they are his parents, and so he does what they tell him to. Because of my husband's disability, this tendency to be easily coerced WILL NOT CHANGE (so please do not respond telling me to boost his confidence and stuff and get him to stand up to them).

They are now refusing to let me and my husband transfer the money from his mother's account into our bank account. Furthermore, they are insisting a large portion of the money belongs to them.

Unfortunately, I'm not sure if my guardianship over my husband's disability check also means that I have guardianship over my husband's survivorship check. I do know that he was judged in the disability case to be incapable of making financial decisions. I believe that should extend to other things, not limited to his signing his check for his mother to deposit in her account.

-------My husband was not mentally capable of deciding to sign over his money to his parents--------

Fraud, Coercion, and Theft all stand out loudly in this case to me.

For a long time, I've known that his parent's had applied him for SSI, not because they wanted to use the money for his benefit, but for their benefit. They cared nothing about him, and over the years have done nothing to try and help get him the doctors he desperately needs. They only wanted to take advantage of his disability to get themselves money to fulfill their gambling addictions.

What do I do, how do I approach this? This is my husband's money, not his mothers, not mine. This is his money, and his alone, and needs to be used for his benefit, not for his parent's gambling binges. I need this money to help get my husband the doctors he needs to help with his physical conditions. I need to help get my husband his money back before they gamble it all away on their next trip to Louisiana.

[cbg]

Call a lawyer.

[pcgumshoe]

If your husband was mentally incapable of handling his own funds, a "representative payee" would be established... From what you posted, currently this is YOU. Although I believe the "Back Payment" is entitled to cover the costs of your husbands care PRIOR to your marriage, if you are his CURRENT representative payee, then what happened is fraud as noted before.

You may have to sue if you cannot coerce the family to give you the funds.

Again, I believe they are entitled to them because they took care of him before you.

I'm not a lawyer, but a disabled person with experience in the SSA system.