Jennifer Turner
More often than not, money is at the root of family conflict. That became evident in Jefferson County recently when a woman filed for a restraining order against her own father, whom she claims is squandering her incapacitated mother's retirement account.
Acting on the behalf of her mother Betty Dickson, Nancy Beyer filed the order against James Dickson Jr. with the Jefferson County District Court on July 6. Judge Milton Shuffield, 136th District Court, will preside over the case.
Beyer alleges that James Dickinson is fraudulently withdrawing funds from Betty's Individual Retirement Account. An IRA provides either a tax-deferred or tax-free way of saving for retirement.
According to the plaintiff's original petition, James Dickson has withdrawn $700,000 from Betty's IRA since 2005.
"The funds were wastefully expended on fraudulent schemes orchestrated against the elderly and most, if not all, cannot be recovered," the petition states.
In her suit, Beyer asserts that a spouse "may not dispose of the other spouse's one-half interest in community property without their knowledge or consent unless the expenditures are fair to the spouse's interest."
Since Beyer's mother is incapacitated, she claims her father has not been acting in her mother's interest. She is seeking to stop James Dickson from dipping into her mother's half of the IRA, and hopes to recover a sum to pay for the loss funds and all court costs.
Beyer is represented by attorney Jennifer Turner of the Organ, Bell & Tucker law firm.
Case No. D179-619