OP's username

Oops... I meant to NOT like.

36, thank you for telling us all that you messed up oh-so badly by liking my comment. I'm sure we all care.

Small claims court. No lawyer needed. Filing fee is something around $35 in most places, and you can sue to recover that also.

That's not an excuse you idiot. I'm so sick of hearing that when a parent steals from their child.

id much rather my mom request the money as a form of "harsh taxes" than just stealing from me. :P

Way to justify something wrong. It's still pathetic and low to steal from your own child. My father stole over 400$ from me once and he made it seem like I had misplaced my wallet. I felt so guilty and stupid for losing so much money until years later, when he pretended he "found" it, and all the bills inside were new (didn't exist when I lost it) and exactly $400, none of my change. That's when I realized he stole from me. It was shameless that he didn't admit to it, and even more shameless that he stole from me in the first place. Did he need it? Sure. He was broke because he was too proud to get a job "beneath" his PH.D and was terrible with money management. Still. Stealing, especially stealing from a child, is pathetic. If he needed it so bad, he could have asked. There is NO WAY to justify it. OP's mom is a bitch.

My father was also bad at money managing and stole $600 from me when I was probably 9 or 10, during the middle of my parents' divorce. My mom took his name off of my savings account after that. She was nicer abkut taking money from me. I got a $5000 check from my grandparents last year and she asked if she could have half to support herself (she had just lost her job.) It still kind of bothers me that she hasn't paid me back in full, now that she has a stable job and I might buy a car soon

If this situation was reversed, with a kid, (especially if they were an adult), stealing from their parent(s), this wouldn't have even been said. The kid would have be crucified, there'd be no excuses. If you wouldn't say "If she's willing to steal money from her [parent], then she probably needs it more than you think...," then you shouldn't be saying this.

Who said it was an excuse? I didnt expect this much hate. I wasn't justifying her, i simply said she must need the money if shes willing to steal off her child's hardwork.

Yeah, saying that she stole it because she needed it is an attempt at justifying it. Saying someone has a 'reason' is saying there's a 'justification' for the action. So, here's a clue: Every person that does something bad has a reason- a 'justification'- for why they did it. And regardless of what the mother's 'justification' is, she still is morally in the wrong. She is withholding (or, more likely, spent) the money her daughter earned. Money that OP earned. And given the crying when the matter is brought up, I am willing to bet the crying is an attempt to guilt trip OP into dropping the subject. As for reasons- there is no good reason for her to be withholding the money without permission. IF she actually has an issue, she is an adult and expected to behave like a decent human being instead of a malformed raccoon. Which means that she should have done what any person with a working moral compass would do and ASK her daughter if she can use or keep the money. Not refuse to give it and try to con her daughter into giving up on the subject. Trying to say that the mother has a 'reason' that validates her stealing nearly 600 dollars, is like saying just because someone lost their job and needs money, they can go to the nearest bank or jewelry store and take it. Because they need it. Doesn't work that way, for that situation, which means it doesn't-shouldn't- work that way in this one. Theft is wrong, barring very specific circumstances. In fact, theft used to be consider more vile than murder in some places and time periods because you were taking things a person needed to live, and very possibly condemning them to a slow, drawn out death, and quite likely everyone they live with. It was essentially murder in some cases- and the world today isn't so advanced that the theft of six hundred dollars won't kill the victim.

You would be surprised. I've read so many FML's where the parents have stolen from their kid, claiming the child "owes the parent for raising them." Because clearly the child choose to be born. You have to be a pretty awful human being if you honestly think it's ok to steal your child's hard earned money because you raised them.

Simple. Online banking. Requires no pin. Just send your rightful money on over to your own account.

I'd love to see the mother try to take some kind of legal recourse over that and then OP just whipping out the proof that her mother was illegally withholding it in the first place.

Hence the "if legal routes arent an option" bit. Desperate times call for desperate actions, and all that.

OP probably doesn't have an account of their own, or at least not the type of account needed for etsy

Maybe before making income she didn't have the money for the opening balance for a business account, so she used her mother's bank account. Most people don't have to worry about their parents giving them their rightful income. Sad her mother isn't one of them.