• FreeAdvice has a new Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, effective May 25, 2018.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our Terms of Service and use of cookies.

Need assistance!

Accident - Bankruptcy - Criminal Law / DUI - Business - Consumer - Employment - Family - Immigration - Real Estate - Tax - Traffic - Wills   Please click a topic or scroll down for more.

irina51

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Washington, situation took place in Iowa.

When I was 11 years old, I was involved in an accident that left me severely injured. The medical bills were extensive, so my parents sued. When I was 14, a settlement was reached. A stipulation was included that gave me $10,000 for pain and suffering that was placed into a conservatorship under my mother, which I was supposed to receive when I was 18. She made up some sort of story that made it seem as though she had to use the money, but as I got older and learned more about my mother, it was clear that she had stolen it from me. I'm now almost 26 years old and expecting my first child. The money would come in handy! I also happen to know that my mother just sold her house for a very sizeable sum.

What can I do to collect what is owed to me? Can I sue her? I don't have access to any of the paperwork involved. I don't even know the name of the lawyer that was involved! Please help!:(
 


BlondiePB

Senior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Washington, situation took place in Iowa.

When I was 11 years old, I was involved in an accident that left me severely injured. The medical bills were extensive, so my parents sued. When I was 14, a settlement was reached. A stipulation was included that gave me $10,000 for pain and suffering that was placed into a conservatorship under my mother, which I was supposed to receive when I was 18. She made up some sort of story that made it seem as though she had to use the money, but as I got older and learned more about my mother, it was clear that she had stolen it from me. I'm now almost 26 years old and expecting my first child. The money would come in handy! I also happen to know that my mother just sold her house for a very sizeable sum.

What can I do to collect what is owed to me? Can I sue her? I don't have access to any of the paperwork involved. I don't even know the name of the lawyer that was involved! Please help!:(
You need to read your conservatorship file. Contact the probate division of the courthouse in the county where the conservatorship was done and have a copy of it sent to you. Mom had to file an annual account of the monies. All that will be in the file including any court orders allowing expenditures.
 

latigo

Senior Member
I agree that in order to get a handle on this thing, it would help to find what is contained in the order appointing her as your conservator. And hopefully she was ordered to render the accountings and did comply.

However, be that as it may, obtaining the necessary documentation to support the claim against your mother is not the biggest legal hurdle facing you.

It’s the Iowa statutes of limitation!

Under Iowa law an action against a fiduciary for misappropriation (fraud) must be commenced within five (5) years of the discovery of the fraud, or within the time when it could have been discovered upon reasonable diligence. (Iowa Code Section 614.1(4)

Although these periods of limitation do not commence to run against a minor until adulthood (age 18 in Iowa) we’re still look at a span of 8 years or so since you came of age.
_______

This is offered as general information only and not as legal advice. I suggest that you communicate with an attorney in the state where your mother is residing.

Or, as an alternative, have an attorney where you live write a nasty demand letter threatening her with a lawsuit to recover the money she embezzled from you, plus loads of accrued interest, and punitive damages.

If she has the ability to pay, she just might rather do that than suffer the embarrassment of the publicity of being sued for stealing from her child.
 

Find the Right Lawyer for Your Legal Issue!

Fast, Free, and Confidential
data-ad-format="auto">
Top