Dad emptied child's bank account

[Singlemama]

When we were married we opened a college savings account for my son . My ex was the custodian on the account .
2 years later we divorced and he emptied the account which had about $1200 in it . Thankfully I discovered this before the divorce was final and he was ordered to replace the money and had to provide proof in court .
Now 14 years later we discovered he closed the account ( recently ) .
What are my remedies to get this money back for my son ? He is 16 now so I don't think he can go after it . Any advice would be appreciated .

 

[disagreeable]

There is likely little you can do except go back to court and seek a contempt charge.

 

[mightymoose]

It is most likely a lost cause. If the account still had only 1200 in it that is not a significant amount worth pursuing. You will end up paying more than that in legal fees.
If the boy needs money for college and you don't have savings, consider military enlistment. The GI Bill will give him more college money than his father ever will.

 

[Singlemama]

It's not that he needs the money for college but it's his money for college... Or to do whatever he desires . The original account was opened with money given by relatives when he was born and on his first birthday . We actually never put any money in ourselves when we seperated . I opened a college account myself at that time for him .
He had intended to use it for a car along with his work savings and even talked with his dad about 6 months ago about getting it . He hasn't seen his dad in years and needed to arrange a time to meet to get the money out . His dad had a million excuses not to meet and now we know why . The account was closed about a month prior to this talk .
The last I knew ( 2 years ago) there was just under $1600 in the account and that's the amount I want returned .
Could this be pursued in small claims court ?
My original divorce attorney has retired so it's not super easy to refer to
My lawyer without getting a new one up to speed .

 

[army judge]

It's not that he needs the money for college but it's his money for college... Or to do whatever he desires .
He had intended to use it for a car along with his work savings and even talked with his dad about 6 months ago about getting it . He hasn't seen his dad in years and needed to arrange a time to meet to get the money out . His dad had a million excuses not to meet and now we know why . The account was closed about a month prior to this talk .
The last I knew ( 2 years ago) there was just under $1600 in the account and that's the amount I want returned .
Could this be pursued in small claims court ?
My original divorce attorney has retired so it's not super easy to refer to
My lawyer without getting a new one up to speed .

I would let this go.
I'm not sure the original court ruled correctly on the money.
A parent (mother or father) has ALL rights to the money of their minor children.
A minor can't own anything.
The parents of a minor own everything.
That money was never the child's money, unless it was placed into a dedicated college savings account.
That isn't a savings account, mind you.
Those accounts are often called "529" accounts.
This link explains it in your state, Ohio:
http://www.collegeadvantage.com/

 

[ElleMD]

The smart move would have been to transfer the money to an account or investment in the child's name. Unless your divorce decree specified that this account was intended to be spending money for the child and only the purpose, if it is in Dad's name, it is his money. It stinks that you had a kid with someone so dishonest but that is water under the bridge.

 

[Singlemama]

Thanks all obviously not what I wanted to hear but appreciated .
Our divorce decree does list the account as " the minor ( sons name ) financial account " and does state that the dad and I must agree on any withdrawals.
It is a shame that he can do this with zero penalty other than hurting his son which obviously isn't an issue to him .