Upon learning that Wendy Williams’ Wells Fargo account is frozen, it is natural to wonder: Does a bank have a right to do that? After all, we place our trust in banks to securely hold our funds and release them to us upon our request. Under what conditions can a bank deny us access to our own hard-earned assets?

In its petition, Wells Fargo justified its decision to freeze the TV mogul’s accounts by citing its authority under various client contracts to “pause or reject instructions for a proposed transaction,” pending judicial or administrative remedies, in the event “exploitation, dementia or undue influence” is suspected.

Because New York has sealed the Wendy Williams financial guardianship case, it is impossible to know exactly what factors led to Wells Fargo freezing Williams’ assets and petitioning for Wendy Williams to be placed under financial guardianship. Many of Williams’ supporters are claiming that the court has ulterior motives in keeping the documents surrounding Wendy Williams guardianship case sealed.