My brother died we can't find his will,he had a persnal account with a considerable amount of money under my mum's address,so my mum gave the cheque books and statements to my sister in law. My mum 's getting the statements and the money has nearly gone.my sister in law said she found a cheque book with signed and post dated cheques so she cashed them in is this legal? What should we do s-i-law said the estate has gone to probate could she be charged with fraud?

Possibly. The bank should be notified of the owner's death. Usually a family member will qualify to be administrator, who is in a position to marshall the estate. The administrator is authorized to review all bank records and demand repayment, if necessary. If the estate is 'in probate', the record is open and public.

Great question.

First, your sister-in-law committed fraud by negotiating checks that were not authorized by the account holder. However (and this a big one), because those checks were presigned, it could pose a legal hurdle if your sister-in-law changes her story in court. She could say that she was issued those items and, of course, the signatures are not forgeries.

Secondly, the bank may or may not provide reimbursement for those items. It depends on when the items were cashed (account holders are required to check their statements timely their claims will not be honored). Additionally, check with the bank to see if somehow your sister-in-law added herself to the account. If she did, she can claim that your brother gave her blank checks to cash and she is authorized to the funds in the account anyway.

I suggest calling the police to file a police report against your sister-in-law (that way the financial institution knows that your real and trying to perform scam) and getting a good attorney that knows the U.C.C. involved to examine the checks and when they were cashed.

Lastly, it also might complicate things if some of her funds were placed into that account (such as payroll direct deposit or automatic transfers from one her bank accounts).

Let me see they committed fraud, they forged the signiture, and most liekly several other crimes, all these accounts should have been notified of the death and frozen till they went to probate.

You should notify the bank ASAP, and contact the police on the matter, this is a theft issue also.