The couple separated, and in 2013 her former husband transferred $10,000 – the combined balance in their children’s accounts – to an account at another bank and closed the accounts. The bank sent letters of confirmation to the children, as the account owners, at their registered address – their father's house. Jacqueline did not find out about the transfers or the closure of the accounts until 10 years later, in 2023, when her daughter tried to access funds for study purposes. By then, her former husband all spent all the money.

Jacqueline complained to the bank that it should have told her about the closure of the accounts. Had she known, she would have taken steps to protect her children’s money before her former husband spent it. The bank said her former husband had the power to make the transfers, but agreed that it should not have allowed him to close the accounts. The bank gave Jacqueline compensation of $200, but she remained dissatisfied.

Our investigation

We agreed that the bank should have refused the request by Jacqueline's former husband to close the accounts. But regardless, he had the power to transfer the funds without her approval, and it was his withdrawal of the funds, not the bank’s failure to decline to close the accounts, that had caused the financial loss to Jacqueline’s daughters. The bank's actions themselves had not caused the loss.

Outcome

The bank offered Jacqueline a further $1,000, and she accepted it.