I used to have a child savings account in my name, but managed by my mother (Nationwide Building Society), and while doing some other admin today I found out that she closed it 2 months before my 18th birthday several years ago, moving all the money (£12 000+) to an account in her name.
I had asked her what happened to that savings account a few times since the time it was closed and she always said that it was “being kept safe for my education”, or more recently that she didn’t know what happened to it.
Is it legal for her to have removed all the money and closed the account, especially so close to the date it would have matured and been under my control, and if not what recourse do I have to try and get that money back?
She is a British national but now lives permanently in France, we are mostly estranged, and she previously refused to give me access to it when she claimed it was “being kept safe for my education”, even though by then I was over 18.