A North Queensland man says he did not have the skills or knowledge to know that his wife allegedly misused $85,000 of his 96-year-old mother's money.
Kathleen Elizabeth Turner is suing her son Maxwell Finlay Turner for almost $85,000.
Court documents lodged in the District Court in Mackay allege Maxwell and his wife Debbie Maree Turner transferred money from Kathleen's account into their own between April 2018 and February 2020.
It's alleged the offending started when the couple moved in with Kathleen in 2015 after she had a fall.
In the statement of claim, it's alleged Debbie was responsible for managing day-to-day finances and would present blank cheques for Mrs Turner to sign.
Mrs Turner's lawyers allege she was told it was for her contribution to food, however that claim is rejected by her son in his notice of intention to defend.
"The defendant (Maxwell Turner) denies it was said that was for food items," they said.
"It was for the replacement of household items that needed to be replaced when they failed.
"If the plaintiff (Kathleen Turner) believed it was for food, that wasn't induced by Debbie."
No knowledge of financial affairs
The documents also claim Mr Turner couldn't have had knowledge of the alleged misuse of funds because he has "poor literacy and numeracy skills".
Mr Turner's lawyers say he relies on Debbie to understand simple documents like tax invoices and that he doesn't carry a bank card or know how to use an ATM.
They said he also doesn't know how to use internet banking.
The statement of claim alleges that thousands of dollars were taken from Mrs Turner's account to accounts owned by Maxwell and Debbie Turner.
Documents lodged on behalf of Mr Turner said he was unaware of anything that was happening with the accounts.
"Debbie received and filed the bank statements without showing them to Max … and he wouldn't have been able to understand them," the documents stated.
"Aside from giving directions about which creditors were to be paid, the defendant relied solely on Debbie for financial management for the farm, harvesting business and personal matters.
"Debbie didn't discuss transactions on Kathleen's account and the defendant didn't have cause to suspect the transactions had occurred."
Information wasn't withheld
In the initial claim, Mrs Turner said financial documents and her chequebook were kept from her by her daughter-in-law.
However, lawyers for Mr Turner said that was not the case.
He admits that Debbie had access to a keycard for one of Mrs Turner's accounts, but denied that she retained mail from the 96-year-old.
"It was put in the office for filing and the plaintiff was not restricted from accessing it," they said.
"From time to time when the plaintiff asked about how much money she had, Debbie would give her the most recent statement, which she read and then gave back for filing."
Mr Turner also denied Debbie retained control of the chequebook, which was stored in the office where Mrs Turner could access.
He also denied that his mother was unaware of the value of the cheques being drawn on her account, as that was something only known by her.
The documents also reject claims that Mrs Turner didn't know who the cheques were being made out to.
"The defendant denies that the plaintiff was not aware of the identity of the payees, as Debbie would show the plaintiff the bills as she presented the cheque to sign."
Mr Turner admitted that none of the $84,894.90 had been repaid and at the time of the claim the money had all been spent.
He argues he is not obliged to repay the sum that's been demanded.
