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Home >> Accounts >> Certificates of Deposit
Bank Will Not Honor Joint Account Rules
My mom has dementia. Several years before she became sick, she put me on her joint account. During that time, she had a durable POA drawn up, exactly the same, separate documents, on same day, with myself and my brother. My brother lives with mom, and has been for thirty years free and clear.
When mom became ill, I transferred her money into a high-interest CD account, thinking this would help with her home health care. When it matured, my brother got to the bank before I did and tried to remove the money. The bank seems to have no respect for joint ownership, as he was able to remove the money. However, when I found out about the transaction, the bank did retrieve the money and placed it back into the CD. However, now the bank says, in order to remove the CD, the family has to have a court appointed conservator/guardian for my mother. The money will remain in the CD until there is proof of a conservator or a death certificate. I feel this is extreme. I am joint on this account.
Don't joint accounts override POAs? The bank is forcing the family into a financial situation that is causing us more hardship than what is already created with mom's health.
Why is the bank doing this? What are my options to have release of the CD, besides court? The family resides in Michigan.
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 Actually, the joint account contract doesn't override the power of attorney. The power of attorney gave your brother the power to act on your mother's behalf as her attorney-in-fact. Apparently, you got the same authorization, although you already had joint ownership.
Assuming that the power of attorney was durable (remained in effect notwithstanding your mother's dementia), when your brother removed the funds from the matured CD account, the bank did not err in honoring his request, if he acted before you did, and assuming he did not move the funds into his own name. The facts confronting the bank presented a legal conundrum. Banks don't like getting dragged into family disputes, and in this case, the bank is simply asking a court to take it out of the middle of the situation. It hasn't forced the family into the financial situation. It is merely reacting to the apparent squabble between siblings. A court would probably be willing to consider any agreement that you and your brother might come to in order to resolve the matter.
Published on BankingQuestions.com 3/23/10
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