Answer:
I assume the account was set up under the Illinois Uniform Transfers to Minors Act. If so, "no" was an excellent answer.
Your institution has a contract with the custodian. The child is a third party beneficiary of that contract and the legal owner of the funds on deposit. The father is not in the picture. (Generally, parental relationships alone do not bestow power over a minor's funds.)
Even if the father had been named the successor custodian (permissible under Illinois' UTMA), he has no power over the account unless the original custodian dies, resigns or is removed by court order.
First published on BankersOnline.com 11/5/01