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Home >> Special Situations >> Minors
Very Young and Opened an Account?
I opened a savings account when I was very young, but my grandmother signed on with me. I am twenty years old now and she and I have had a falling out. I was under the assumption that I would be able to touch the money without her permission once I turned eighteen. I cannot withdraw any of my money. What can I do? Will this change when I turn twenty-one?
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 Find out from the bank how the account was established. Here are a couple of possibilities, based on the information you supplied.
The account might have been set up in your grandmother's name with you listed as a beneficiary or a "pay on death" designee. In that case, your grandmother has legal ownership of the funds until her death. In the meantime, she can change the beneficiary designation at any time, removing your name, if she wishes. If the account still carries your name as beneficiary when your grandmother dies, the account becomes yours, unless she decides to give it to you sooner.
A second possibility is that the account was set up under the Uniform Gifts to Minors Act or Uniform Transfers to Minors Act in the state where she lived at the time. The laws of that state will determine when your grandmother as custodian, is obligated to surrender the funds to you. In some states the age is eighteen; in others, twenty-one, and in at least one state, it can be anywhere between eighteen and twenty-one, depending on how it was established initially. In any event, the bank cannot deal with you on the account; it will be your grandmother's responsibility to turn the funds over to you when the time comes. If she refuses, you may need to talk to a lawyer.
Published on BankingQuestions.com 10/27/10
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