I heard a very sad story earlier this week.
A father opened up a savings account for his son at a local bank. The son was leaving for college and the father wanted to be able to deposit funds for his son. The account was in the names of both father and son with the father's good intention of providing spending money to his son when needed.
The son got mixed up with a bad kid. The kid opened up a checking account at another local bank. The kid wrote a bunch of checks on the checking account (which didn't have any money to cover the checks). The son deposited them into his savings account and the two of them immediately withdrew as much cash as they could.
Now, the father must file charges against his son to protect himself from being held responsible for the bad checks. The father's credit will be damaged and it will be a lot of work to get it fixed.
We always hear of nightmare stories where a parent has co-signed on a loan for a child. This story shows it can also be risky to even have a joint bank account with a child or anyone else for that matter.
Tina in Virginia
**************************************************************************************
Tina Merritt and her Associates. can be reached at email: tina@nestrealtygroup.com or 757-287-6338.
Our Network consists of both buyer and listing specialists helping buyers and sellers in Southeast Virginia, Hampton Roads, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Isle of Wight County, Hampton, Newport News and Poquoson, Virginia. In Southwest Virginia, the New River Valley, Blacksburg, Christiansburg, Radford, Pulaski, Dublin, Floyd, Narrows, Pembroke, Pearisburg, Glen Lyn, Rich Creek, Check, Hiwassee, Indian Valley, Parrott, Newport, Shawsville, Pilot, McCoy, Long Shop, Fairlawn, Wythe, Draper, Willis, Sowers, Elliston, Eggleston, Ironto, Riner, Auburn, Rogers, Giles County, Montgomery County, Floyd County, Pulaski County.
Visit our website: NestRealtyGroup.com
Tina - that is a sad story and something I'm sure the father didn't expect either. Good lesson for parents.
That is Aweful. The Father is definitly in the right for filing charges. I love the Stewie Picture (short round) HaHa.
Thanks for bringing an awareness about this.
Hi Tina...Most kids would not do that to their parent. I would think that it took more than meeting a "bad" kid for him to do something like this. I suspect he was a problem in more ways than this one instance and it sure doesn't sound like he's responsible or mature enough to be going to college. What a terrible spot to put a parent in.
Kate
Tina,
This is a sad ending and something that the father would not have expected.
Instilling financial responsibility should have started MUCH EARLIER than 18 years old * from lawn mowing, baby sitting income to Christmas/B-Day $$$ * Father should have put an alert on account for over $200 so that before a check was PAID by the bank, the father would be notified.
I have to say I agree with Wallace. We would all like to believe that nothing like that is possible with family, but how many times have we heard of "that one story" that changes our perspective?
-Joe