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My Dad is in his mid-80's.
Recently I became aware that his son-in-law was stealing money from
him. Son-in-law would use Dad's credit card without permission, would
steal Dad's checks and write checks on Dad's account and then cash
them..etc etc....... By closely scrutinizing the statements from
Dad's various accounts, I was able to detect certain things that pretty
much prove all of the above. It looks like total amount of theft is at
least $40,000, ......... probably more.
Myself and other family members are uncertain as to what we should do
about this theft. Son-in-law _IS_ aware that we know of the thefts.
So far, we are unable to come to an agreement as to whether or not we
should hire an attorney, and attempt to prosecute.
We are wondering.......is there a time window (statute of limitations)
within which we need to act if we want to prosecute son-in-law? This
is in the state of Texas.
ka0fpj
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carkenord@juno.com wrote:
My Dad is in his mid-80's.
Recently I became aware that his son-in-law was stealing money from
him. Son-in-law would use Dad's credit card without permission, would
steal Dad's checks and write checks on Dad's account and then cash
them..etc etc....... By closely scrutinizing the statements from
Dad's various accounts, I was able to detect certain things that pretty
much prove all of the above. It looks like total amount of theft is at
least $40,000, ......... probably more.
Myself and other family members are uncertain as to what we should do
about this theft. Son-in-law _IS_ aware that we know of the thefts.
So far, we are unable to come to an agreement as to whether or not we
should hire an attorney, and attempt to prosecute.
We are wondering.......is there a time window (statute of limitations)
within which we need to act if we want to prosecute son-in-law? This
is in the state of Texas.
ka0fpj
For one, the statute of limitations begins at the discovery of the criminal
act.
Not when it took place.
By all means, for that amount, seek the guidance of a professional attorney.
Confront the jerk and either have him pay back the money, or threaten him
with court action and do it.
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carkenord@juno.com wrote:
For one, the statute of limitations begins at the discovery of the
criminal
act.
Not when it took place.
By all means, for that amount, seek the guidance of a professional
attorney.
Confront the jerk and either have him pay back the money, or threaten him
with court action and do it.
chances are if you don't press charges against the guy, he will continue
to do this to other people if the opportunity arises. my friend went
through
this with his sister stealing from his company. it's a tough call, but
unless the guy has 40k to hand back to your dad, i'd be going to the police.
what's your dad think about all this (assuming he's lucid). i'm not even
certain you need an attorney, the prosecutor would essentially be your
attorney.
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"Rob" <rob@nospam.com> wrote in news:6rOvd.10081$sU4.4971@trndny01:
chances are if you don't press charges against the guy, he will
continue to do this to other people if the opportunity arises. my
friend went through
this with his sister stealing from his company. it's a tough call,
but unless the guy has 40k to hand back to your dad, i'd be going to
the police. what's your dad think about all this (assuming he's
lucid). i'm not even certain you need an attorney, the prosecutor
would essentially be your attorney.
I'd go to the police even if he *had* the 40k. On top of getting the
money back, I'd be asking for a restraining order to keep the SIL away
from the man. Unless the OP is willing to file a criminal comlaint
against the SIL, the police will probably not be interested in getting
involved. This isn't petty stuff here - you're talking about fraud,
forgery, identity theft, etc., which are all felonies. Some states also
make it a criminal act to do these sorts of things to the elderly.
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My Dad is in his mid-80's.
Recently I became aware that his son-in-law was stealing money from
him. Son-in-law would use Dad's credit card without permission, would
steal Dad's checks and write checks on Dad's account and then cash
them..etc etc....... By closely scrutinizing the statements from
Dad's various accounts, I was able to detect certain things that pretty
much prove all of the above. It looks like total amount of theft is at
least $40,000, ......... probably more.
Myself and other family members are uncertain as to what we should do
about this theft. Son-in-law _IS_ aware that we know of the thefts.
So far, we are unable to come to an agreement as to whether or not we
should hire an attorney, and attempt to prosecute.
We are wondering.......is there a time window (statute of limitations)
within which we need to act if we want to prosecute son-in-law? This
is in the state of Texas.
If you and other family members know about the theft and decide to do
nothing, would not that also be a crime, i.e. would you not be an accomplice
to the theft? (I don't know the legal answer to this, just asking). At any
rate, even if you are not legally an accomplice, failing to report the theft
certainly would be unethical and morally repugnant, especially from the
standpoint of Dad, who is the big loser in all this.
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My Dad is in his mid-80's.
Recently I became aware that his son-in-law was stealing money from
him. Son-in-law would use Dad's credit card without permission,
would
steal Dad's checks and write checks on Dad's account and then cash
them..etc etc....... By closely scrutinizing the statements from
Dad's various accounts, I was able to detect certain things that
pretty
much prove all of the above. It looks like total amount of theft is
at
least $40,000, ......... probably more.
Myself and other family members are uncertain as to what we should
do
about this theft. Son-in-law _IS_ aware that we know of the
thefts.
So far, we are unable to come to an agreement as to whether or not
we
should hire an attorney, and attempt to prosecute.
We are wondering.......is there a time window (statute of
limitations)
within which we need to act if we want to prosecute son-in-law?
This
is in the state of Texas.
Yes there is a statute of limitations. I don't know what the period
is in Texas, but if you stay tuned, a Texas attorney might answer. If
not, it should be an easy look-up on the internet. But I'm really
here to answer a question you didn't ask. Your obligation in this
case is to do what your father wants you to do. It is not up to you
to decide whether to file a criminal complaint. It's not your money.
You should tell your father all that you have learned and then do
whatever he decides should be done. He might well decide to do
nothing. That's his business. If your father is not competent to
make this sort of decision, then you should see that a conservator is
appointed. If he is competent, then what to do about the thief is not
up to you.
McGyver
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