Glenwood woman was unable to rely on her Chase bank account for months, which she needed to care for her cousin

GLENWOOD, Ill. (WLS) – A woman became the legal guardian of her cousin but was unable to access his bank account.

She needed the $95,000 in the bank to pay for his care. When the bank wouldn’t help, she called the I-Team.

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Barbra Schranz from the southern suburb of Glenwood suddenly became her cousin’s legal guardian.

In February, he was cognitively impaired following a stroke. She needed access to his Chase bank account to pay for his move from the hospital to an assisted living facility.

The account had more than $95,000, so she went to the bank with all the legal documents in hand.

“I need a guardianship. Here are the papers, from the state of Indiana, with the magistrate’s stamp and everything. They said, ‘OK, but we’ll send it to the legal department,'” Schranz said.

Three months passed, but no results.

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Schranz said she submitted her paperwork three times and continued to call and email to find out why there was a delay.

“They had my IDs, the Valparaiso court records, the judge’s stamp and seal. That wasn’t good enough. They investigated for months. So we started calling the executive offices. I thought, ‘This is crazy,'” Schranz said.

In the meantime, her cousin’s debts were piling up.

“He has bills. He has three cars, two houses. He has insurance; all of that has to be paid,” Schranz said. “So I had to dip into my own money to pay it. I paid about $10,000. Someone said, ‘Call Channel 7,’ and I did. And then things started moving.”

The I-Team contacted Chase Bank and within days Schranz was told she would be mailed a check for $95,000.

Chase told the I-Team, “We are pleased to have resolved Ms. Schranz’s case. The transactions were complex and the security of our accounts is our top priority, so the process took some time. We regret the delay and offer our condolences.”

Now Schranz can help her cousin.

“I’m so happy to get the check that will fund his life. It’s for $95,908.78. Now I can move him to a different environment. Maybe I can reinvest some of the funds I had to withdraw from his accounts. We want to give him a better life. He deserves it,” she said.

In this case, the consumer had all her documents but said the bank did not get her answers as quickly as she wanted.

However, this is a reminder that you have a will or trust and all your banking documents are in order for your loved ones to access.