Halifax savings account but told was shut

RoxanneLam

Hi I hope some one can help as it’s all a bit confusing and kind of a long story that goes with it all,

So short and sweet my gran nan opened and was putting money into a liquid gold Halifax savings account for me, when my nan passed my account book went missing ( family member denied having and then years later finds it and has given it to me) when going into Halifax at first they couldn’t find the account, then after weeks later after calls emails and so on, ( Whitchurch I have none of as it was done by the family member that finally gave the book to me) in the morning end she basically said that the account was closed 2 weeks before my great nan passed, which makes no sense as my great nan wasn’t able to leave the home let along me strolling down the town, I not sure what I do or we’re to start with it all, I still have my savings account book with all details on and the last time it was used was back in 2003, if anyone could help in anyway it would be much appreciated, tia

MovingForwards

Ask them for a closing statement and details of a the transactions for the 6 months prior to her death, providing you are the executor.

Did she leave a will? If so, was that account specifically named in it? If so, who was the beneficiary of it? If it wasn't then it has been put into her estate for distribution as per her will or intestacy rules.

xylophone

Was the account in your name or your grandmother's?

Malthusian

MovingForwards wrote: »

Did she leave a will? If so, was that account specifically named in it? If so, who was the beneficiary of it? If it wasn't then it has been put into her estate for distribution as per her will or intestacy rules.

Not if it was held in trust for the OP, in which case it would be outside the estate.

However Liquid Gold savings accounts were standard savings accounts, i.e. not something specifically designed for grandchildren. Which makes it more likely that the money was "earmarked" for the OP but in reality just part of the grandmother's assets and would have been distributed as per her Will as you say.

Perhaps someone had Power of Attorney and closed her savings accounts to simplify her affairs. Or her nan sent the Halifax a letter instructing them to close it. Or the relative is mistaken and it was closed later as part of administering her estate. No reason to think anything suspicious happened without more information.

The OP needs to clarify whether the account was in her name or her grandmother's. If it was in her grandmother's it has almost certainly been distributed as part of her estate and the money is gone.

RoxanneLam

Thank you all for commenting, I’m not clued up about bank account savings and how it all works but the book that I have says ‘ her name for my name “ all the other grand children was given there’s when she passed and revived the money that she put away for each grandchild, but my one was kept for some reason by a family member for years, the bank have tryed to say my savings account was all drawn out 2 weeks before her death and then closed with her death certificate after she had passed.

robber2

Corrected that for you.....

the bank [STRIKE]have tryed to[/STRIKE] say my savings account was all drawn out 2 weeks before her death and then closed with her death certificate after she had passed.



I'm sorry to say you really have to look a bit closer to home for the answer and either have a frank conversation with the family member who had your account book or with the executor of your Grans estate.


Sadly the changes of you seeing any of the money are next to nothing.


Rob

AnotherJoe

Given the OP has the book she needs to ask Halifax who took the money out, by their account it wasnt nan so what right did that person have to withdraw the money ? I think it's also worth going to police.

Malthusian

RoxanneLam wrote: »

Thank you all for commenting, I’m not clued up about bank account savings and how it all works but the book that I have says ‘ her name for my name “

the bank have tryed to say my savings account was all drawn out 2 weeks before her death and then closed with her death certificate after she had passed.

The bank is contradicting themselves. If the account was in "nan's name for Roxanne Lam" that suggests a bare trust account. That means it belonged to you and was not part of your grandmother's estate.

However bare trust accounts don't get closed when the trustee dies.

If you want to pursue it I would ask the bank to confirm in writing who closed the account and on what authority. If the account names you as beneficiary then you have been absolutely entitled since age 18 and are also entitled to information about it.

But it may be quicker just to write it off. If Halifax say the money is gone then it is gone. If Halifax paid the money out without proper authority that is grounds for complaint, but if this happened in 2003 an Ombudsman complaint would be time-barred. (Unless you turned 18 in the last three years, as you could argue that you could only reasonably have become aware of the loss of the money when you reached majority.)

all the other grand children was given there’s when she passed and revived the money that she put away for each grandchild, but my one was kept for some reason by a family member for years, the bank have tryed to say my savings account was all drawn out 2 weeks before her death and then closed with her death certificate after she had passed.

Doesn't make much sense. Why steal only your money and not everyone else's? If the family member managed to access your account they could do the same with the others. If the family member stole the money then why hand you the account book? It would be much safer to shred it and leave you in blissful ignorance.

*edit* Plus if the grandchildren also had money in bare trust accounts then again the grandmother's death should not have triggered handing over the money. They would have been absolutely entitled to the money whenever they each turned 18. If the money belonged to the grandmother and was distributed as a bequest ("£1,000 to each of my grandchildren A, B and C" / "The contents of my Halifax account 99996542 to grandchild X" / etc), that would be different.

AnotherJoe wrote:

I think it's also worth going to police.

Not without a lot more evidence than this. The OP is just going to get filed as a timewaster if they tell them now. At the moment the case basically amounts to "My grandmother said she was going to give me some money and then didn't".

If the OP had confirmation from the bank that the money was withdrawn without proper authority, that would be different. Until that point the prime suspect is the OP's late grandmother as she controlled the account, and she's beyond the reach of the law.

AnotherJoe

From the OPs report the money was not taken out in 2003 was it? I thought it was two weeks before nan died? Did nan die in 2003?
OP can you clarify?

xylophone

Grandma opened an account in bare trust for the OP?

Grandma kept the passbook?

After Grandma's death, a relation took and kept the passbook?

After a number of years, the relation gave the passbook to the OP?

The account was (according to Halifax) closed two weeks before Grandma died.

The passbook shows no record of the transaction?



Grandma was too ill to have closed the account in person - one of her relatives closed the account without the passbook and kept the cash?

MovingForwards

Just out of curiosity:

was it Halifax who put 'nan's name for you' as the account name

Or

Was the account in your nan's name and she, or someone else, wrote for 'for you' on the passbook?

I recall Halifax used to write in green ink when filling in the pass books, is yours printed or handwritten?