Taking from deceased’s bank account?
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Taking from deceased’s bank account?
My mother died last week and mere minutes after she passed, my aunt asked her
aide to return my mom’s debit card. Aunt claims she ‘needed to pay the aide’
and also yelled ‘did you know your mom had 20K in her account??’ She also
broke into my mom’s home, because she said she saw two undeposited checks in my
mom’s house.
Is it legal to use my mom’s debit card after she died, and be looking at the
balance? Mom left everything to me and my brother and Aunt was not a name on
the account. It’s important to mention we don’t consider ourselves to even OWN
that money, as my mom was in bankruptcy and near foreclosure, so everything
gets absorbed by her debt before/if we even see it. Because of that alone,
NOBODY should be allowed to touch her bank account.
Asked on April 26, 2018 under Estate Planning, Massachusetts
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 6 years ago | Contributor
If it was a joint bank account, the other joint account holder could access the money and, in fact, the money in the account will likely become hers after your mother's death.
But if it was a non-joint account (or it was a joint account, but your aunt was not one of the account holders, as appears to be the case from what you write), then she has no right to access the account after your mother passes away. If she does, the estate's executor or personal representative could sue her, on behalf of the estate and heirs, to recover any amounts or money she has taken.
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