Consumer complaint received 2017-08-22
Product: Checking or savings account — Savings account
Issue: Managing an account — Deposits and withdrawals
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY (NY)

In XX/XX/XXXX my mother ( age XXXX ) was temporarily in a XXXX XXXX due to a XXXX XXXX XXXX. At that time, my mother asked me to have a POA made for her so I can help with her medical decisions and to make a changes on her bank savings account.
She had been estranged from my sister ( her only other child ) for 3 years and decided to take my sister 's name off of her savings account at Wells Fargo. My sister had been receiving money from my mother through the years and she felt that this is what she wanted to do for me.
I was concerned about this change and decided to bring several people to her room to witness her verbalizing these wishes.
I went to the bank and made the change as the legal POA. I explained to the clerk that my mother and I were the only people to be on that savings account and told him that our names ( my mother & I ) were currently on a checking account at Wells Fargo and that the savings account should be the same.
After my mother returned home, she went to the bank and in the bank every weekend with my niece to do her banking until her death onXX/XX/XXXX In XX/XX/XXXX, I made a transfer into the savings account for {$25000.00} to consolidate some of my funds. This deposit brought the account up to {$130000.00}.
A month later, I went back to the bank to withdraw the money to transfer it to another investment.
I was told, I could not withdraw the funds because the clerk that help me the prior year and a half had made a mistake! He not only took my sister 's name off the account, he took my name off the account too, and left me on as a POA. As a POA my name died with my mother!
I must reiterate, at the time of the change, my mother was XXXX years old. Why would I take my name off as a POD to replace it with a POA?
Because my sister found out about the money, I have been in and out of court. The court said, because my mother did not have a Will, my sister was entitled to 1/2 of the original {$100000.00} less the funeral & other expenses I paid for. She was entitled to {$43000.00}.
My mother did NOT need a Will. The only money she had was at Wells Fargo and they made an HORRIBLE error on her account. The entire account was left to me, alone.
Now it 's 3 years later. I was made executor of the account.
I went back to the bank, with the court papers that clearly mapped out the division of the money ( {$43000.00} to my sister and {$87000.00} for me ) and I was met with another surprise. Wells Fargo said that because I was really not allowed to make the change I did inXX/XX/XXXXas a POA, and they never informed my mother in the following year she frequented the bank, they took it upon themselves to reverse their error ( 2 years after the fact ) and put the account back to having the 2 PODs ( my sister and I ). NOW, they can only give me a check for 1/2 {$65000.00} and the remainder goes to the other beneficiary! Instead of {$43000.00}, she would receive {$65000.00}. Remember {$25000.00} was MY MONEY!!!!
This is bank error ( s ) have cost me attorney fees, time, interest and has caused irreparable damage.