Can I claim back money embezzled by my ex-wife?

[Jim Rogers]

After 15 years of marriage I divorced my ex-wife earlier this year.
She moved out last September. We have a 15 year old disabled daughter who lives with me.
I was the only one that worked so I left the claiming of tax credits, child benefit and my daughters Disability living allowance to my ex.
My ex would get paid the DLA into her personal bank account then transfer it to our daughters account (or so I thought)
My ex stopped claiming the DLA, tax credits etc at the end of July 2016 and then handed over control of my daughters bank account to me.
Going back through the statements I have discovered since January 2012 she has not been paying the DLA into my daughters bank account as regularly as she should have been.
Basically there is over £4,600 missing from my daughters account.
I have given my ex-wife a letter (and emailed her a copy using registered email) showing the under payments and demanding that this sum should be repaid (My ex recently got a big settlement form me for her equity in the house and can easily afford to pay back the £4,600)
So far she has ignored my demand.
The DLA rules clearly state the following:

1. You must always act in the best interests of *childname* when managing and spending the DLA money you receive for them.
   
2. You must report any changes in *childname* circumstances which could affect their entitlement to DLA.
   
3. You must report any changes in your own circumstances which may affect your ability to act as an appropriate person e.g. *childname* no longer lives with you or there have been changes in your own health.
   
4. You must not take a fee or take any payment from *childname* DLA money for acting as an appointed person.

How can I go forward with this to claim my daughters money back please?

[des8]

Re: Can I claim back money embezzled by my ex-wife?

Hi and Welcome

Before you go about trying to recover this money on behalf of your daughter, are you sure your ex will not be able to show that the money was used for the benefit of your daughter?
Or to put it the other way, can you prove it was not used for your daughter's benefit?

[Jim Rogers]

Re: Can I claim back money embezzled by my ex-wife?

Thanks,
All expenditure on my daughter was either done using the debit card attached to the account or cash withdrawals that showed up on the statement.
My ex-wife also withdrew £300 from my daughters account in Febraury to buy Euro's for her to go on holiday with her new boyfriend and never paid it back.

[des8]

Re: Can I claim back money embezzled by my ex-wife?

I think you might have problems with the disability payments that were actually paid to your ex.
The money removed from the account is a different matter
The money is in an account on which you ex was a signatory so to remove it for her personal use (without your daughters permission?) might be criminal fraud, but you could possibly attempt a civil suit for breach of fiduciary duty,

These are solely my musings on the matter.
Others hopefully will be along with heir words of wisdom, but it is Sunday so there may be a delay.