Real Life MMD: Do I have a right to my niece's money back?

privateiris

Re the dileema over your neice's money. You do not say how old your neice is now, but I am assuming she is under 18. If she is under 18 and her parents have used the money set aside by you specifically for you neice, then that is outrageous - not to say illegal. You do not say whose name the account was in, but you should have been very careful when setting up the account so that any payments they wished to deposit would have had to be made through you and they would NOT have had the account number.

You are entitled to take recovery action, but it may be better if you try to reach a repayment agreement with them before taking that step. After all, they are still going to be related to you whether you recover the money or not, so it is better to keep things civil if at all possible. If this is unsuccessful, then you can take legal action to recover.

Whatever you decide - Good Luck - but please set up safeguards if you ever decide to be as generous in the future.

janiebquick

Surely only you have authority to withdraw from this account? If not, why not? If so, then clearly there is a possible fraud issue here, which you need to initially take up with the bank/building society concerned, then go to the police.

robnye

if the account was opened by you for thier daughter - i didnt think the account could be touched by anyone other than you or until the child was 16.

so in this case it definately sounds like fraud

Ebenezer_Screwj

Can I spell this out a bit more clearly. Nobody can draw money from somebody else's account by just being aware of the account number. It is an impossibility without gross negligence on the part of the bank. If however the parents have been made joint signatories to the account then they are entitled to draw money, irrespective of whose name the account is in. In this case, the account is in your name "re. the niece" until she reaches 18, when the onus is upon you to put the account into her own name. Your bank account has been mis-managed against your wishes by involving the parents.

ph51sg

Well, I don't think you have a right to her money back but she does...

As other people have said if you just gave them the account number and sort code then the bank shouldn't have given out the money. If the account was setup in her name (I guess it was? - usually better for tax/interest) then you are probably a named person on the account? If they were also then it isn't fraudulent but is perhaps a little mean.

At the end of the day they should have repaid the money into the account (+ interest I would suggest) but it is your neice that has lost out. Maybe they got short on money and she offered or they asked and she agreed. That is a tough one because, depending on age, she would probably feel pressured into helping out. If it were me I wouldn't have asked unless it really was a last choice (and when I say that I mean after loans from family or from bank or remortgage).

I would be blunt with them and ask what happened; Did they consult first? Did your neice offer? Are they paying it back (into her account)? Or do they have some sort of arrangement.

I would make sure that you don't pay anything else in (or if you want to, set up an account in your own name and then you could give her that directly later). If I had set up the account I would have made it so I was the account holder in the name of my neice and that she would become the account holder at 18 (basically like a trust).

S

theresa0807

:mad:This makes me really cross as this money was for the childs future, although you do not say what the value was, if it were just a couple of quid maybe it wouldnt matter. I do not understand this as when i opened accounts for my grandchildren years ago i was the only one who could touch it until they were a certain age. I do think they should pay it back very quickly especially as you say they are splashing money about now, if they do pay it back maybe you ought to alter the account so no body except you can have access until the child is old enough to manage their own money, surely their own conscience tells them to pay it back, as this wasnt theirs to begin with i wonder if this is classed as THEFT, after all if i took money or anything that wasnt mine it would be theft. Hope she gets it back

TEssery

Absolutely you should ask for it back, assuming you still intend to pass it on to your niece of course!

aubergine

What horrible people. Of course the money was given to the niece, so she should be the one getting it back, including interest and with safeguards that no-one else gets their hands on it, nor does she until she's old enough.

Let's hope she's better with money than her parents.

taxing

Sorry but this sounds like a 'made up' problem just to spark debate.
Most on this thread seem so, too, but this one more glaringly so......

_nate

Sometimes I make light-hearted remarks on these threads. I can't here.

If they have stolen the money you gave to your niece from her, then the matter should be treated as such. This is beyond disgraceful. It is criminal.