stolen trust

[William79]

in 1994 my mother died and left a insurance policy to 3 of her children, i was minor (15) at the time and was told i had to choose a trustee to look over my portion until i was of legal age, until that time the account was supposed to have been frozen. and i recently learned he used it to pay on his home and truck. i have tried asking for my records, and my trust but he always had an excuse. until i made him mad and he let the truth slip.
my questions are..
1) Is their a statute of limitations between Trustee and beneficiary?

2) can i ask for interest if i sue? if the money was in the bank interest would naturally occur. can i also ask for damages?

3) could he face criminal charges?

4)does the bank have to replace money if it's taken illegally from an account?

5) how can i get the bank records to prove my case in court? do i need an attorney to obtain them?

Thank you very much for your time. please post any information that may be helpful in my case thanks again

 

[curb1]

How much money is involved?

 

[William79]

$8,500USD thank you for your quick reply.

 

[tranquility]

Without the state, no one can tell. But, let's pretend you should have gotten the money at 18. That would have been 14 years ago. Heck, the BANK may not even have the records now. See a local attorney, but, even if a breach of fiduciary duty the difficulties of proving things up after this long make it unlikely one will take your case without money up front. (That's assuming the SOL hasn't run.)

 

[William79]

I'm sorry i thought i listed my state. It's Alabama. Thank you for your time.

 

[Kiawah]

Was it a formal trust as you indicate, a custodial account, or was it just handed over to 'him' indicating it was for 'you'. A formal trust would most likely have instructions as to when and for what disbursements could be made. Custodial account or just a regular account could be argued, that disbursements were made for your support throughout the years.

 

[William79]

When the attorney was handing out the checks she told me i had to chose someone to watch over my portion, because i was to young to handle it myself. my mother didn't set it up. All 3 of us had to sign for our checks, i do remember my brother signing something else before he could accept my portion. but i don't know what it was. i hope this helps. thank you so much for helping me. Have a great day.

 

[Kiawah]

Most likely not a trust, sounds more like he was just handed a check and who knows what kind of account he deposited it into.

Why was this not addressed when you turned legal age?

 

[William79]

At that time i was going through to much, my dad was in a car accident, my girlfriend committed suicide, and other friends were killed by drunk drivers in that period. i didn't have time or patients to deal with this issue. my sisters mother in law worked at the same bank. She did tell me that the account was supposed to be frozen. Do you think it would be a good move to revisit the attorney that handled it to begin with and get the paperwork from her? then i can visit the bank or an attorney and go forward from that point? I appreciate your help. thank you very much.

 

[curb1]

It won't cost anything "to visit the bank". Go for it, you might learn something, but probably won't. You have to do as much as you can on your own to see if any answers result. There is not enough money involved to pay for much help. Certainly would help if the attorney that set this up would talk with you.