A Long Island, N.Y. caller to The Ramsey Show says his family is now fractured beyond repair. After his father died, he convinced his 81-year-old widowed mother to place her $96,000 inheritance into a certificate of deposit (CD) for safekeeping.<\/p>\n
Instead, he later learned that his brother, who was added as a joint owner on the account, withdrew every cent and cut off all contact following a falling-out they had.<\/p>\n
The betrayal left him and his widowed mother devastated. He asked Dave Ramsey for advice on whether he should take the situation to court, saying he was worried that making it into a legal matter would further estrange and anger his brother.<\/p>\n
\u201cI’m sorry \u2014 we’re worried about pissing off somebody that stole $96,000 from their widowed mother?\u201d Ramsey said. \u201cI couldn\u2019t care less if he\u2019s pissed off. I want to put him in front of an 18-wheeler.\u201d<\/p>\n
Although the brother may have, in Ramsey\u2019s words, acted like \u201ca bum,\u201d from a legal standpoint, he likely did nothing wrong because the money was in a joint account.<\/p>\n
The caller explained that his mother recently had a brain-tumor surgery that left her \u201cnot all there.\u201d<\/p>\n
When their father died, the caller suggested putting the inheritance into an auto-renewing CD<\/a>.<\/p>\n To keep things simple, he added his brother\u2019s name as a joint owner of the account alongside his mother\u2019s, and assumed that both siblings would one day split the funds equally.<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t think of anything else,\u201d he admitted. \u201cWe thought it\u2019d be like an easy split putting it in a CD.\u201d<\/p>\n Soon after, the caller\u2019s brother fell out with both his sibling and his mother. Months later, the two discovered the CD had been drained.<\/p>\n The bank confirmed that any account holder could legally withdraw the entire balance at any time. The brother had taken everything.<\/p>\n \u201cYou guys were so dumb. You put his name on it. If it\u2019s really stealing or not \u2026 I\u2019m not sure it is, legally, because his name was on the account.\u201d Ramsey said.<\/p>\n The caller said he\u2019d confronted his brother, but was met with deflection and blame.<\/p>\n Ramsey explained that the mother could try to hire an attorney, but it likely wouldn\u2019t help.<\/p>\n Because the account was joint, the withdrawal wasn\u2019t fraudulent. If the brother already spent the money, even a court order to pay it back might not achieve the desired result.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re going to spend $10,000 chasing your mom\u2019s money,\u201d Ramsey said. \u201cAttorneys and courts don\u2019t make people have money when they don\u2019t have money.\u201d The caller said his mother \u2014 who still receives disability and Social Security income \u2014 has no appetite for a prolonged legal fight. Ramsey agreed that walking away might be the only realistic option (1).<\/p>\n Read More: The average net worth of Americans is a surprising $620,654. But it almost means nothing. Here\u2019s the number that counts (and how to make it skyrocket)<\/a><\/p>\n Financial exploitation can involve strangers or professional scammers, but data from AARP and the National Council on Aging shows older adults are often financially harmed by their own relatives.<\/p>\n Joint accounts, undocumented loans, verbal promises and blurred ownership lines all create opportunities for financial losses that can\u2019t be easily remedied by the legal system.<\/p>\n As in the caller\u2019s case, family-perpetrated financial exploitation is difficult to prosecute because the victim often willingly signed documents.<\/p>\n The National Council on Aging reports that seniors lose billions each year to financial abuse, with family members being perpetrators in almost 47% of incidents (2).<\/p>\n Families often assume money will be split evenly or that everyone will act ethically, when this is far from a guarantee. Furthermore, jointly held accounts can be vulnerable to creditors if something happens to one of the owner\u2019s finances.<\/p>\n To protect aging parents, experts recommend:<\/p>\n Avoid joint ownership unless it is needed for a specific reason (3).<\/p>\n Use \u201ctransfer on death\u201d (TOD) or beneficiary designations instead of joint accounts (4).<\/p>\n Establish clear estate-planning documents, including wills and powers of attorney.<\/p>\n Review accounts annually, especially after major life changes (5).<\/p>\n Keep written records of all financial decisions.<\/p>\n Early planning is the best defense against both accidental missteps and intentional exploitation of elderly family members. The caller\u2019s mother lost $96,000 not because of fraud, but because of a paperwork mistake rooted in trust and misunderstanding. The emotional damage will likely outlast the financial loss.<\/p>\n The lesson from this story is loud and clear: The law isn\u2019t enforced based on your idea of fairness, it\u2019s enforced based on documentation.<\/p>\n We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our editorial ethics and guidelines<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Ramsey Show (1<\/a>); The National Council on Aging (2<\/a>); BRMM Law (3<\/a>); Western & Southern Financial Group (4<\/a>); Kiplinger (5<\/a>)<\/p>\n This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Long Island, N.Y. caller to The Ramsey Show says his family is now fractured beyond repair. 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