Regards to joint account

[StupidMistakes]

Me and my ex husband did not part amicably, and as a result I cannot remove my name from the joint account as both parties consent is required, so I opened up a dispute, I haven't used the account in over two years and don't wish to be financially linked to him anymore, that and I also plan to change my legal name and don't wish for him to know it, but correspondences received recently have been addressed to Mr and Mrs stupidmistakes as a result I want to remove myself so he cant gain access my new name.

There is an overdraft on the account which he had before my name was added and was always overdrawn. I do not recall signing a credit agreement for the overdraft, although I know my ex husband did, but solely in his name.

Its not a large amount of money, however I cant afford to pay it off in one go, and my main issue is that for as long as the overdraft is there my concern is that he still has access to the account and could withdraw it again, and then the bank would be back to asking me for the money back.

I don't want to wait until the bank take the overdraft back because no funds are going into the account as they are threatening to do, however I don't wish to pay off a sum of money for my ex to withdraw it and leave me back in the same situation in a few weeks time.

Do I wait and let the bank take it? And find out whose the overdraft is if I signed no agreement? Or shall I arrange with the bank to pay it little by little but with each payment decrease the overdraft so no money can be taken?

I should add my ex husband still owes me roughly half the amount of the overdraft, and the reason my money doesn't go via the joint account is because he is a cocaine addict and would take it at midnight should he know it was there, hence I don't use the account for anything.

Sorry its so long.

[DoJo]

Unfortunately, I suspect that by agreeing to a joint account, you have agreed to be jointly responsible for the overdraft, which means that you are both responsible for paying it off. You could ask the bank if you could pay it off yourself in instalments and reduce the amount available to either of you, but you would also need to ensure that your ex would not be able to unilaterally raise the limit again (definitely get this in writing!).
I don't think there is any way of dividing up the overdraft so that you would be considered responsible for half each, as you are more than likely jointly responsible for the lot, so if he is happy to have it outstanding then you will have to pay it off in order to have your name taken off the account.

[Joysmum]

...so sorry you find yourself in this situation. This is a real eye opener for those who maintain joint accounts are preferable for women should their marriage go tits up.

What have the bank said?

[MrsLouisTheroux]

Joint account, joint responsibility. Ask the bank to block / freeze any transactions from this account other than payments in to clear overdraft.
Explain the situation to the bank re. your ex.

[attheendoftheday]

You will, unfortunately, be equally responsible for the overdraft. You can ask the bank to freeze the account so your ex cannot withdraw any money you put in, but the overdraft will still need to be paid off at some point.

[CosmicDespot]

Perhaps you could never be a bit slow to tell them your changed name? It took me three years to change mine when I got married ...

[StupidMistakes]

I am thinking that they will chase him equally surely if he is jointly responsible? I feel like everything is being left to me, I have divorced him and yet when they write, which they do to my address it is addressed to both of us despite them having seen my decree absolut which therefore means we are divorced and knowing we are separated, I am concerned they may be only writing to me, I plan to phone them tomorrow and moan tell them yet again we are divorced and have no contact.

I have opened a dispute on the account, but that seems to make no difference and reality is that once that has been in their eyes resolved, he is free to get me back into debt again, I think i would need his consent to remove the overdraft from the account? I may be wrong, i know i do to remove my name from the account

[ImperialBlether]

One thing - could you arrange for the overdraft to go down by a certain amount each month/period of time, so that you can pay it back, but know it can't be increased again?

Also, can you look at the account online? Has there been any activity on it?

[ImperialBlether]

Didn't the solicitor who dealt with your divorce deal with this?

[Snatchoo]

You cannot remove yourself from an account without the other party's consent, but you CAN have it closed. If you are willing and able to do that, go into a branch, explain what needs to be done and they should be able to pay off the OD and then close it in one fell swoop.

You can have the OD removed. You are joint party and can do whatever you like.

You might be able to get a 'both to sign' mandate on the account which means neither of you can do anything with written consent from the pair of you. I can't quite remember though, I think probably you need consent from both of you to set it up.

They won't tell you they are writing to him but they will be. However if he has moved and hasn't told them, they won't be able to locate him. There is no point you calling and moaning about it, they are writing to both of you as it's a joint account. It doesn't matter whether you have no contact. So if he is still registered with them at your address, that is where they will write to.

*I work for a major retail bank so it may be different if you have the account elsewhere.

[Snatchoo]

Pay in a bit at a time and ask them to reduce the OD accordingly? Sounds like the best idea.

[BlackDaisies]

Something similar happened to me. You can have the account frozen immediately so that neither of you can withdraw anything from it. You can do that over the phone. They did this for me as soon as I said our split was not amicable and that he was running up debts on the account. Unfortunately you are both liable for paying it off, and as far as closing it, both of us had to sign forms for that to happen. I would ask an advisor at the bank if they can support you in any way with paying this off, and whether they can pursue your ex for the debt first.

[LRDtheFeministDragon]

Sorry to hear about this. I agree - freeze it or close it, asap.

Btw, you don't have to tell the bank your 'legal' name. There's absolutely no reason to do so, so don't let that bit worry you! You're only not allowed to use two names if you're doing so in order to commit fraud, so if it were me I'd just go on using the new legal name for everything else and get the old account in the old name closed as soon as you can.

This isn't a go at you but I can't not respond to this post: 'This is a real eye opener for those who maintain joint accounts are preferable for women should their marriage go tits up.'

No, it isn't. It's an eye-opener to anyone who would keep a joint account with an ex they've split from on bad terms!

[caroldecker]

Check with CAB to the best way of dealing with this. If they cannot contact him they will go after you for the full overdraft. You need advice to ensure he cannot take any more money from this account.

[Spaulding]

Keep going into the bank OP until this is sorted. That's what I had to do years ago when I split with my partner at the time. We had a joint account but no arranged overdraft on it. We agreed when we split to leave enough money in there to cover two months rent, bills etc. I monitored the account online regularly and slowly buy surely he was withdrawing the money. He ignored my texts to stop as we needed the money to pay off the last of our bills. He conpletely cleared it and I was left to borrow the money from relatives so I could pay the rent and bills. There must have been a few quid left in there and he managed to top up his phone, which took the account into an unarranged overdraft, with a charge of £28. I paid it because I didn't want a mark against my name.

I went in the bank and explained the situation. First they told me there was nothing they could do as we both needed to be there to close the account.

Again he managed to do a top-up. Again a £28 charge. And I paid it again! Went in again, this time I was given a form to fill in which we could both sign to close the account. I signed it, wrote a letter explaining to EX-P he needed to sign, put it in a big envelope, along with another stamped envelope with my address on so he could send it back. Never heard from him!

So after yet another charge I went in again and they froze our cards not before freezing the wrong card for my individual account, grr so he couldn't use the account anymore. At the time the lady made it sound like it was being closed. I went in the branch again after seeing it still wasn't close. She apologised for the misunderstanding, was really sympathetic to all the charges and closed the account there and then. I received a letter in the post a week later confirming the closure. No idea why this wasn't done to bgin with. Perhaps EX-P needed to take the piss before the bank had grounds to close it without his permission.

Sorry that was a bit of a rant. But basically, it took months, and numerous visits to the bank, but I got the result in the end! and evidently it all still pisses me off years later!

[MooseBeTimeForSnow]

You are jointly and severally liable, which means if one of you can't (or won't) pay, the lender will pursue the other for the full amount. Not just your "half".

[42andcounting]

Did you not have a 'financial clean break order' when you divorced? Show it to the bank then they will be able to close the account.

[StupidMistakes]

I cant afford to pay it either! I had a major accident due to an epileptic attack and now cannot work I know he wont pay.

The account is in dispute so both of us have to sign for anything including removing the overdraft.

There was no financial arrangement because stupidly debts were in general only in one or the others name and because they were roughly the same I decided to keep mine and him his. Unfortunately I forgot the overdraft was in both names.

No financial clean break order, however the joint account is the only thing we ever had as a joint, even the utility bills were solely in one name.

The bank has told me to seek legal advise because they will require both signatures to close or remove myself from the account. I want to scream. I told them that I moved away for my own safety that the police have been involved and the fact that we cannot be in the same room

So what happens when I say I have no ability to pay it?

[LisaMed]

If you have no financial clean break order and win the lottery, your ex has a claim on it. If you get an unexpected inheritance, your ex has a claim on it. If you get compensation, your ex has a claim on it.

You may like to get a clean break order regardless and sort out this a/c at the same time.

Good luck.

[tiredandsadmum]

Re: closing a joint account. My ex did this to me unilaterally - closed it without notice so I had to reset up all DDs etc. There was a very small overdraft (£11) - he cleared that and then the account could be closed.

It is the only issue in 20 years that I have had with First Direct, where their procedures over joint accounts with divorcing parties were woefully inadequate.

[StupidMistakes]

I was under the illusion that once you divorced there was no financial link any further. I am not inheriting from my mothers death so nothing there means he has no claim to it, or more accurately, nothing to claim on, I have no savings so he cant claim them either.

How do I go about a financial clean break order?

[LisaMed]

If you won the lottery and were still married then ex would have shared in it, so therefore would have a claim on it even though you are divorced. If your circumstances improved he may revisit the finance side.

On the bright side, if he won the lottery you could make a claim.

I suggest you visit the legal board. They will be able to point you in the right direction. Normally it is just done on paper but from the sound of it he won't co-operate with that.

fwiw the guidance on the court website is here but I don't think it covers when the ex is a nutter.

[StupidMistakes]

Well, I don't do the lottery, and mum was the last of my family apart from the estranged delusional sister who I have no contact with........ so I wont be inheriting money nor winning it, but I suspect if I did get a job he would try applying for spousal maintenance to feed his drugs at my expense and to make my life hard so I think I need to make sure ALL TIES are severed.

[StupidMistakes]

On the other side, how is he gonna know if I did win or inherit money when he has no access to my own accounts I wouldn't tell him I had money!! I AM NOT THAT STUPID, but I don't think its worth the risk.