My mother bounced well over a hundred checks in a three month period, accumulating about $4000 in fees from her bank. She had about $3200 per month directly deposited from her sources of income (pension, Social Security and disability). She was an 80 year old confused person. I found out about this after her death.
What responsibility does the bank have to a person and her account? Why did they continue to keep her account open? I had Power of Attorney to her account, but was not aware of this situation. I feel that this was taking advantage of my sick mother and taking advantage of the fact that the money was direct deposited. Do we have any recourse?
It's important for anyone with a parent of advanced age to check in regularly with him or her to find out if there are problems like this. It is sometimes necessary for a responsible son or daughter to obtain control of a checking account from an aging parent who shows signs of not being able to manage it.
The situation is such that you should consider approaching the bank's management to see if the bank might make some concessions on the fees that accumulated so quickly, because $4,000 in fees in three months ought to have set off some sort of alert at the bank.
If the bank won't budge, perhaps your mother's estate would have any legal leverage. For that answer, you'd have to check with an attorney or legal services office.
Published on BankingQuestions.com 4/16/09
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It's important for anyone with a parent of advanced age to check in regularly with him or her to find out if there are problems like this. It is sometimes necessary for a responsible son or daughter to obtain control of a 