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Fatwa CenterJoint bank account with non-Muslim mother
Question
Salam. My Christian mother has a bank account that has my name on it. However, I have zero access to it unless I go with her to the bank to show them my identification. My mother is not a trustworthy person. I have explained this multiple times to my dad and his family. My family were telling me that I can transfer the money to my own account which I have access to by calling that bank company. However, I have no interest to take this account that belongs to me since my mother is the one who has access to it, despite the fact that my name is being used. Last week, I received an email for that bank account informing me that my mother took out almost all of the money that was in it, leaving approximately 1,500 dollars.
My questions are:
1. Is this account really mine, despite the fact that my mother is using my name and has access to it?
2. Should I retrieve the money that she took out from it?
I am asking these questions because my family sometimes asks me about that bank account. They think that the account belongs to me even though my mother created that account many years ago, but it did not contain a lot of money before she took almost everything out.
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad 
is His slave and Messenger.
As long as your mother is the one who opened the account and put her money in it and she did not give you access to it, then you are not permitted to withdraw anything from this account without her permission and consent, and you are not permitted to retrieve what she withdrew from it because she owns the money that is in it [it is her money].
It should also be noted that the fact that the mother is not a Muslim does not negate the obligation of being dutiful to her and keeping good company with her.
Being dutiful and kind to the parents is an obligation upon the children as long the parents do not order them to disobey Allah. There is no difference between the Muslim and non-Muslim parents in regard to the obligation of being obedient and dutiful to them. For more benefit, please refer to fatwa 85180.
Allah knows best.
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