SPRING GROVE, Pa -- It has been a rough few months for the Lau family in Spring Grove, York County.
"In July, my mother passed away. 16 days later my father passed away," said Todd Lau.
He's the oldest son of Jeffery and Mary Lau.
Each of his parent`s had a will.
His mother`s will left everything to his father - and vice versa.
Since his mother passed away first, Lau thought it would make the most sense to start an estate for his father.
Lau is the personal representative for that estate now.
He thought since his mom left everything to his dad that would take care of both of their finances.
" I`m trying to get money out of my mom`s bank account. The bank will not let me take it out because I have not opened an estate for her," said Todd.
His mother had an account with Bank of America in Florida where she was living before her death.
There`s $777 still in that account.
He says he talked to the bank 3 times about the issue and he was told the only way to get that money - is to open an estate in his mother`s name.
Lau`s attorney told him it would cost more money to open an estate than there is in the bank account.
"So, the bank gets to keep the money basically."
He says he even brought all the paperwork to a Bank of America Branch in Maryland and that still wasn`t enough to get the money.
"It should be, it should be, but it`s not."
FOX43 Finds Out emailed Bank of America to find out why his paperwork wasn`t enough.
The bank sent us a statement that reads in part: "We appreciate that this is a difficult time for Mr. Lau. Our goal is always to work with family members to settle the estate as quickly as possible."
Because FOX43 brought the issue to the bank, it`s now working with Lau to see if the issue can be resolved.
"We`re not going to get really anything substantial at all out of it, but it`s just the principle of it- that the bank shouldn`t holding people hostage, basically," sadid Lau.
Lau says Bank of America has sent him some is going to send him more information and paperwork he`ll likely have to fill out.
We`ll keep you updated to see if he is able to get the money - and how long that might take.
If you have a story you want Jackie to look into, FOX43 wants to find out.
Send Jackie a message on Facebook or send an email to FOX43FindsOut@FOX43.com.
