What do we do if Mother in Law stole money from 3 year old daughters bank account.?

Mother in Law gave my Daughter 100 Dollars in a bank account for baptism. Handed us the passbook and said here you go feel free to do what you want. We deposited $517 of my daughters remaining gifts along with the $100 gift from her Grandma. Well come to find out grandma has a severe Gambling problem. I went to withdraw and come to find out there was 2.95 left in the account. Mother in Law is lying about it saying "I am not getting into it but the money was transferred to another account". I said to get it from that account of which we all know doesn't exist. If it did she could just give the money back. Then she said she would send a certified check for $300 three weeks ago and send the rest by March 30th. None of this has happened. Now we find out she is taking 7 family members to red lobster for a birthday and in the mean time ignoring are requests for my daughters money. The family members know about this and are OK just going and letting her spend the money. I think this is crazy and they think were crazy for reacting the way my wife and I did? I don't know what to do about the whole situation? Grandmother stealing from her granddaughter really?|||The child is an infant - so, whose name is the account in, on her behalf? Is it in Grandma's name, UTMA or UMGA for the kid? Or is it in yours? It sounds as if Grandma opened the account in her name, in trust for the kid. If it is in Grandma's name, she is entitled to take money out of that account, so if you don't like it or don't trust her, you should never ever put additional money into that account. Unfortunately, as long as her name is on that account (and if she opened it, you can't take it off), she has access to everything and anything that is in it until the kid is 18.





Think of it as a very expensive lesson for you to have learned. In effect, you just handed her $517, and the $100 that she "gave" but took back from your daughter, and I don't think there is a thing you can do about it. You can check with the bank, but I am 99% sure I'm correct. That's a mistake you should only make once.





Now that you know MIL's nasty little secret, you know never to let her have any fiduciary responsibilities for you or your family members ever again. You need to keep your child's accounts all under your name, and in addition (because now gramma has the kid's social security number...) you should be freezing out your daughter's credit with all three credit reporting agencies, and keep updating it. It is not unheard of for older relatives with drug or other addictions to open up lines of credit in other relatives' names, and they can destroy a kid's credit before they turn 18 without your knowledge if you are not careful.





There is no point in getting upset. Apparently nobody else in the family is surprised, or they don't care - and nothing is going to change anyway, because her gambling addiction is more powerful than her sense of love and responsibility. You just need to do what I've suggested, and make sure that the woman never has access to any of your banking and financial information. If she is ever around your house, make sure that all your financial papers are locked up out of her sight. I'm sorry you have to deal w this.|||There is probably nothing you can do because I suspect your mother in law's name is on the bank account. A minor child cannot have an account without an adult name being on it. If she opened it, her name is probably on the account and she can do whatever she wants, even if it isn't right morally.|||Check with the bank and see all the names on your daughter's account. Then ask the


bank to tell you who withdrew the money. If you can get a copy of this do so. Then contact the police and file a theft report. Let them do the rest or take grandma to small claims court. Meanwhile open another account and put any money into an account grandma doesn't have access to.|||Youre pretty much screwed if you deposited your money in HER account. Legally, you cant do anything. She sounds like a horrible person. Don't let her see your daughter until she coughs up the money she owes you although be prepared for the backlash because people like her dont realize theyre even doing anything wrong and im sure more members of that side of the family will side with her.|||You should talk to the bank instead and see what is really going on. and in the future only make an account for your daughter that only your daughter can touch with your consent.|||Open a new bank account for your daughter. Let the old one go, and forgive Mother in Law. However, never trust her again with your money.|||I'm not sure but based on what you said It doesn't sound like you have enough evidence to sue her and win. The only thing I can think of is to either A cut off all ties with her or B don't trust her with money. Next time she hands you a passbook say OK lets go right now and take the money out. Don't trust her, she isn't trust worthy.