Legal Question in Family Law in Pennsylvania
I am nineteen years old and attending college and medical school at a very expensive university. We have no financial aid because my mother is well-off; my father passed away when I was younger. My mother and my living situation has been very tense for many, many years and I would like to develop a contingency plan in the case that, at some point, she either kicks me out of the house or cuts me off from her funding (e.g. refuses to pay for my room and board during college). She has prepaid the four years of college tuition, so that is not a concern, but that does not include room and board and I would also have to find a way to pay for medical school.
I have started working and will probably earn roughly $3,000 this summer as well as $3,000 during the coming school year, so I could possibly cover a year's worth of room and board with my own funds. But what I need to know is whether there is any way I can extract money that belongs to me from my family's accounts. All of the money from my jobs that I have earned (including the $3,000 this summer and the $3,000 I'll earn during the next year) has gone into accounts that are jointly held under my and my mother's name--I believe I am the primary account holder but I'm not sure, if that makes any difference. In addition to those assets that I've earned myself, I'm sure (it just logically makes sense) that part of my father's life insurance money should legally belong to me and I also am pretty sure that my parents have been saving money for college through TAP accounts. Is there any way for me to take my share of those assets (please address the TAP account, the life insurance and the jointly held savings/checking accounts separately)? What resources, both legal and financial, should I consult in order to explore my family's financial situation in a discreet manner and figure out where I would stand if my mother decides to jump ship? Thank you very much for your help in this regard.
NOTE: I wasn't sure of which category of law to put this question under; if it belongs in a different category, kindly let me know so that I can get a complete answer to my question.
3 Answers from Attorneys
Talk to your bank about your rights to withdraw funds....and look into financial aid if you are filing on your own-----talk to a financial counsellor at school--they will understand...believe me they don't want to lose good future doctors.
Call me if you would just like to confer--no charge. I wish you the best....
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Sincerely,
SAUL H SEGAN ESQ
215 732 4000
www.saulhsegan.com
Review your bank account. You are an adult now so I am not sure why your mother's name is still on the account. If you do not want to arouse her suspicion, open up your own account at another bank and have your earnings go there. Regarding your father's life insurance, there is no guarantee that any of this was to go to you. Your mother might have been the named beneficiary. Or your father may have made a trust for you as the beneficiary and named your mother or someone else as trustee. Usually, the trustee needs to provide you with an accounting of what is in the trust and how it has been disbursed. Has this ever been done? I am not sure about the TAP account. I would need to know the details. Is that like a 529 plan? Usually those funds are in the name of the account holder, not the beneficiary. I am just not familiar with that as I graduated long ago and do not have children. But I would suggest that you familiarize yourself with the details so that you know who the account holder is and whether you can access the funds.
As for medical school, that is not going to be cheap. There is always ROTC. The US Armed Forces (Navy, Air Force, Army etc.) used to have a program whereby you would go to medical school and agree to enlist for 4 or 5 years and serve in the military as a doctor during this time and they would pay for it. The world has become an ugly place with the mindless wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and whomever the US Empire decides to invade next, so I cannot recommend this option. However, the decision is yours to make. Talk to your financial aid officer and see what programs/options are available for someone like you. With healthcare in flux, most doctors are leaving the profession, not entering it. You should talk to them and decide if this is really something you want to do. School costs have been escalating and salaries are not what they once were. I don't want to dissuade you - only get you to think about the consequences of doing or not doing it. If this is what you truly love and want to do, then I am confident that you will find a way to pay for medical school as well as your college room and board too.
I have an update for you on TAP. That is PA's version of a 529 plan. You need to read the plan rules about who is the actual account owner. In most cases, it is the parent, not the student. If that is the case, then you cannot tap into it.
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