Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Georgia
My brother passed away sept 9th. On the 13th we notified the bank of his death that sam night 5 checks hit the bank ,all persona to the same person totaling nearly 5,000.00 along with debit card purchases of 400.00 more emptying his account .The checks are obviousely forged. the bank says it't up to us to pursue this individual, I feel the bank is responsible. Who's right?
2 Answers from Attorneys
The bank is responsible if they are forgeries. I assume you have already made police reports. The next step is for someone to go to probate court with a lawyer and that person can, after being appointed to represent the estate, sue the bank.
Calling the bank without all the above steps is useless. In fact you have no authority to act without being the legal representative of the estate.
In most all cases, there is more to the story. Banks typically understand their responsibilities in this area, even of they are not always the most cooperative people. If you spoke in person to a manager (as you certainly should have), that person likely gave you more of an explanation than you gave us. You certainly should have called the police - again more information left out.