joint account

[l_yopp]

in north carolina. my ex-fiance "accidently" wrote checks out of "our" account in april after she went back to her husband in february. emails from her are very apologetic, saying it was a mistake, and she will put the money back into the account "tomorrow". 3 months later, no money. she admits she took it in emails, but it was from our joint account. Now she says "technically", I was putting money into "her" account. Will small claims court help me, especially with her admission in emails?

 

[lawrat]

Yes, absolutely. You have the proof, now hurry and go file before the SOL runs out.

____________________________________________________________
I am a law school graduate. What I offer is mere information, not to be construed as forming an attorney client relationship.

 

[JETX]

Print out all the emails NOW, with full headers!! You would be surprised how many cases are lost when the hard drive crashes with the 'evidence' on it.

Also, I detect from your message that there might be some question regarding 'ownership' of the account.
1) Was this your account first, and she was added?
2) Was this her account first, and you were added?
3) Was this a new account opened with both names?
4) Did you both deposit funds into the account?
5) Why did you not close the account when your 'fiance' returned to her husband?
6) How can she be your "fiance" when she was still married??

 

[l_yopp]

To Halket:
1), 2) and 3): The account was opened by her as a joint account with me. My signature took a couple of days. It was not her sole account, with me added later.
4): Both of us deposited in the account. Mine was direct deposit, hers was cash from child support and alimony (when it showed up). The last that she deposited was in February.
5): I was stupid. There was that hope that she would come to her senses, and all would be forgiven and forgotten.
6): We planned to be married about 6 months after the divorce was final. We were seeing each other in secret because of the spouses...no ring as of yet, just promises and commitments...

 

[JETX]

Since this was a joint account funded with joint funds, your case of her having to replace common funds is much diminished. Your only hope to recovering any funds is to be able to prove that the funds she withdrew were not authorized and she knew that the funds were not hers.

Normally, this would simply be a matter of your word versus hers, but her emails help to show that she was aware of the problem.

This is NOT a slam-dunk case (since she could certainly make a lot of claims about the funds and even challenge the validity of the emails). I would suggest that you might take a chance with the Small Claims court.

 

[l_yopp]

So, I guess it is even less of a chance to get any funds back from her for other things. We had our finances together since August of 2000. That was based on the promise of marriage. We're talking a total of about $11,000 that she specifically spent (her checks, ATM's, lawyer fees, engine replacement, etc.) This was the amount that was above what she brought in. We agreed to this at the time it was spent. But, again, that was ok with me because of her promise to marry me. I wouldn't allow that much to be spent just to date someone. Is there a "breach of promise" or anything could be applicable? Again, I have numerous e-mails referring to our marriage in the future...

 

[JETX]

Let me be clear... NO, No and NO.

Unless there was a specific agreement (written best, verbal maybe) for the money to be repaid it was NOT a loan, but a gift.

If you were to bring any action to try to recover these monies that you freely GAVE (even with the anticipation of marriage), the burden of proof would be on YOU to show the court that she had agreed to repay you. And without that agreement, the court will have no recourse but to agree with her claim that the money was gifts.

IMHO, you have learned several expensive lessons in life. Never open a joint account unless married. Never loan money without a written agreement. Never loan money to someone if they are without ANY assets to enforce a judgment. Always get some security interest when making a loan (car, house, whatever of value). And so on.....