Am I responsible for debt incurred by my mother with a bank account that she co-signed for me when I was 16?
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Am I responsible for debt incurred by my mother with a bank account that she co-signed for me when I was 16?
My mother opened a bank account for me when I was 16. She proceeded to use the account on her own and even wrote a couple of checks in my name. She severely overdrew the account and now the bank has turned the balance of almost $900 to collection. I just turned 19 and the collector is coming after me – is this legal, if I have not used the account in over 2.5 years?
Asked on June 27, 2011 under Bankruptcy Law, Alabama
Answers:
FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
If the bank account was in your name even when you were a minor child, under 18 years of age, you would be legally responsible as a minor child for bank charges and would be responsible as an adult for the bank charges of $900.00 even if you did not do anything to incur the charges. Your mother as the co-signer for the account incurred the $900.00 in chrges that the bank now wants from you.
If the money that was pulled out of the account resulting in the charges claimed by the bank now was used by your mother for her own benefit, then she needs to ultimately pay the $900.00 either to you to pay the bank, or reimburse you after you come up with $900.00 of your own money to satisfy what is owed the bank.
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