my brother is on a joint checking account with my dad since mom died, and he has spent all of dad's money?

Question

down to nothing on things for himself, his credit cards, eating out, etc. Can us other kids make him pay us ( and dad) back?

Answer 1

Probably not. When you put another person on a joint account with you, you are basically giving that person the authority to use the money in that account.

I would suggest your Dad close that account. When he opens a new account, don't put your brother on it.

He could sue your brother but he gave your brother permission to use the account when he put his name on it so he'd have to somehow prove fraud or theft to win.

Answer 2

There is nothing you can do immediately but you should consider all of the following:

1. If your Dad has a will, remove the rotten brother from the will

2. If your Dad has any other assets make sure that the rotten brother does not have access to it

3. If your Dad has life insurance make sure that your rotten brother is not a beneficiary on the policy or policies

4. Figure out what the rotten brother's inheritance would have been and deduct ther value of your rotten brothers' theft from that amount. If the value of his inheritance is worth anything after this, you should then arrange to utilize it to the extent necessary to pay your father's current living expenses.

5. If the rotten brother's inheritance is worth anything then use it as leverage to try to persuade him to pay back your dad what he stole. If he pays back what he stole, then he will get his inheritance if he doesn't then he should be dis-inherited.

Its a sad day when a son steals from his father!!!! Good luck.

Answer 3

If your brothers name was legally on the account, there is nothing you can do. If he forged your Dads name however that's fraud and he can be prosecuted. I was on my Mother's account for over 23 years until she passed away and I never spent a dime. Your brother should be ashamed of himself.

Answer 4

No. If his name is on the checking account there is nothing you can do about it. If he forged your Dad's signature, that is a different matter. Why did you Dad put his name on it anyway? He did not have to.

Answer 5

Though this is morally disgusting, there is probably NOTHING you can do legally.
If his name was legally placed on the account, he legally had access to the money.
This should be a lesson to be very CAREFUL about who is given access to your bank accounts.

Answer 6

Your dad would have to be the one to take him to court to get the money back.

Answer 7

wake your brother up in the middle of the night with a gun in his mouth or knife to his throat and tell him to give the money back or sleep with one eye open

Answer 8

You did not say where you live. Laws change from state to state and country to country.