By Greg Stone
STAFF WRITER

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It seemed like a sensible thing to do, Alma Cole figured. She was getting up in years and didn't want her family holding the bag for her burial expenses.

So about 10 years ago, she had son Alan Counts' name added to her checking and savings accounts at United National Bank. On June 30, Cole got a shock.

That day's mail revealed that $6,450 had been drafted from her checking and savings accounts. About $25 was left in her savings account.

Her checking account had been virtually depleted, causing her to bounce three checks. "I've never written a bad check in my life," she said.

Cole owed no one that amount of money.

But Alan does. In fact, he owes more than that, according to the state Bureau for Child Support Enforcement.

Child-support officials located the account by using Counts' name. Armed with the proper documents, they had the bank debit Cole's account.

Both Cole and her son say Alan contributed nothing to the account. Cole paid taxes on the interest. Her savings account represented all the savings she owned.

Still, Betty Bippus, a member of United's investigations department, said she had no choice but to deduct the money.

"Any court document that passes through, we have to abide by it," she said. "We have to abide by the guidelines of the law or otherwise be fined."

As the ultimate capper, United also charged Cole a $75 processing fee.

"The bank charged me $75 so [child support] could rob me," said Cole, 85, a Chelyan resident who played the organ at Watt Powell Park in the 1970s.

Cole was badly shaken by the experience.

"Oh, I went to pieces," she said. "I just collapsed. The lady at the bank said,

Now, Mrs. Cole, don't have a heart attack here.'"

There is hope that Cole may recover her money. Counts' lawyer, Joe Zak, will try to prove next month in a court hearing that the money belongs only to Cole.

Cole's money has yet to be dispersed to Counts' ex-wife, said Ann Garcelon, a DHHR spokeswoman.

"In effect, until a hearing is held these assets are merely frozen," Garcelon said. "If he has really made no deposits, that will come out in a hearing and the money will be released. "

Zak says that system violates due process rights.

"They take the money and you have to go back and show the court why they shouldn't have taken it," he said.

Child-support officials are trying to collect about $7,900 from Counts. Counts' lawyer denies that his client owes anything.

The son is puzzled as to why his mother's accounts were raided.

"I can't understand what my divorce has to do with her money," said Counts, 59, who lives at Topsail Beach, N.C.

Federal law allows accounts to be drafted to pay for back child support, Garcelon said.

Counts said Zak advised him late last year to quit paying the $662 a month in support.

"I don't recall the advice I gave him," Zak said. "I'm not going to confirm or deny that."

Counts has unsuccessfully argued for years that the payment is too high, that it's based on income he earned before his retirement five years ago.

If parents behind in payments are notified of hearings before money is frozen, the funds would either be spent or moved under someone else's name, Garcelon said.

"If not for the heavy hand of the government, child support wouldn't be forthcoming," said Garcelon. Other government agencies operate the same way, Garcelon said, including the ever-popular Internal Revenue Service.

Counts says he has always paid his full child support share on time, until late last year.

He said bureau officials still declare he is behind. They once drafted $6,000 from one of his accounts, he said.

Why would a government agency arbitrarily declare that a conscientious parent is behind in payments?

Zak blames the bureau's computer system. One of his female clients was due an income tax refund, he said. Her ex-husband owed her child support.

Somehow, bureau officials got her Social Security number and his mixed up. Her tax refund got routed to the ex-husband, who used it to pay alimony to another ex-wife.

"The child advocate's office is a monster," Zak said. "They're absolutely too heavy-handed and the bureaucracy is such that you can't get anything done."

Garcelon says the computer glitches have been largely cleared up.

"There are no computer problems of this magnitude at this time," Garcelon said. "That's an excuse used over and over again."

Cole, meanwhile, is not mad at her son; she says he's "solid gold." She has learned a thing or two about the administration of her bank accounts. Alan's name is no longer on either her checking or savings accounts.

"People ought to be careful about how they put their relatives or children on there."

To contact staff writer Greg Stone, use e-mail or call 348-5195.

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