Relationship over, ex keeping ‘joint savings’

[FieldRunner]

First of all, I know I’ve been really stupid here. Ex and I have broken up, we had been together for nearly 4 years and been saving for a house for about half of this time. Ex works in finance and persuaded me that we’d be better pooling our savings as would receive higher interest. I transferred a set amount to him each month to put into an account which he said would be a fixed interest rate. Basically it transpires that a few months in he changed this to be invested in to a Stocks ISA. He says it isn’t simple to give this back to me as the money is tied up and value is volatile as it’s the markets (I don’t really understand this).

Does anyone know if it’s hard to get this money out of a Stocks ISA? I don’t know what to do next, he is ignoring my messages now. I’ve transferred over £15,000.

No idea- I’d repost this on the money matters board, you’d get excellent advice on there from people who know

Even if it is difficult to get the money out. That is your money. You can prove that. I’d get some legal advice.

He could sell the shares tomorrow.

if he wanted.

but he doesn’t.

I fear you’ll never see this money again.

Is the account just in his name?
Might be very hard to get back if it is.

Am not a financial advisor or anything so just some amateur suggestions here - if you haven’t used your ISA this year, Ask him to speak to his isa provider about an in specie transfer to another isa for you . Could be with same provider. See what the terms are / any costs associated.
If you know who provider is they can tell you about options for you
it’s possible the money you transferred to him has gone down in value unfortunately… I think that is what he means by volatile … he’s invested it and lost money it sounds .
the value could come back up though over time.
i think you both need to have call with his provider ?

ISA are individual
Key is in the name
ISA (IndividualSavings Account)
You gave him the money
You were very foolish naive
If you can prove coercion you might have a case but it might cost you 15k in lawyer fees

You will not see this money again

Do not ever give someone money to keep in their account

I guess from legal stand point he could say you agreed together to invest in stocks shares isa…
. your word against his…
best you can do i think is discuss options with his provider
find out what it’s invested in too
see if better options for you .
. He obviously thought he was doing the right think to boost your joint savings in tax efficient way . ISAs are thought to be sensible investment.
He is your ex but see if you can try to work with him on this
He will have lost money too …

No way to transfer isa unless you are married eg https://www.geraldedelman.com/insights/have-you-considered-using-your-partners-isa-allowance/

He could cash in the isa and then give you cash
Might be less than you put in if in stocks
But he is sitting happily on his money in hisname his tax free savings
Likely 15k gone unless you get a lawyer and prove intent or coercion etc

I don’t think it’s coercion.
It’s easy to say OP too trusting etc , but many couples trust each other like this. He hasn’t put it in a pyramid scheme , the guy had just tried to do something seen as a sensible way of saving and investing, but stock market has risks .
Good luck OP, don’t panic, it may turn out for the best , just be practical about it

ISA s are never joint. He knew what he was doing taking your money

No no, not transferring the ISA allowance , just creating new ISA in OP name using her allowance .

You might as well write it off. It’s his money, you gave it to him, and you’re not married. You have 0 chance of getting it back.

Unfortunately your title is incorrect in that it’s not joint savings.

If you’ve only discussed this verbally follow up with something written, even a WhatsApp acting a bit dim, but basically confirming he’s got over £15k of yours.

“I understand from our conversation earlier that you’ve put the joint savings in a stocks/shares ISA so it will take a little longer to withdraw, but so I can plan, how much did we have in the account before you moved it, and what do we have now?”

I definitely wouldn’t write it off, go back and find every written time you refer to it, check the references you used to transfer the £ over, give him a short time to get it back to you, and then start to make more of a fuss.

It costs 5% of the amount claimed, so £750, and you can file a money claim online. I’d give him a fortnight, and then tell him you’ll be doing this, and then follow up a week later and file if he hasn’t returned it to you.

Theres more information here - www.gov.uk/make-court-claim-for-money

It’s his money though. She gave it to him.

And she is unable to transfer money from his ISA to one in her name because in order to do that the names on the ISA’s need to match.

His provider will not speak to her. It’s his money now.

How many more of these threads where women are blindly trusting men within partnerships where they have 0 rights.

i don’t think he was up to no good here. It was probably easier to manage money all in one place.
the problem is OPs 15k has possibly become £10k . He is going to need to calculate somehow exactly what she paid in and the percent decrease of the ISA over time. He can cash that in. Or transfer to OPs ISA.
either way ask provider for options on what to do

It won’t be OP doing the transfer. It will be him on her behalf. That is why I said she needs to work with him on this .

You need to ask him what he has invested the money in and then we can help. If he has a simple ISA invested in shares then he can just sell 50% and get the cash within days. If it is a long term investment (a structured product is an example of one) then there could be complications cashing in.

This is just theft.

Send him a letter laying out the details of the fraud he has perpetrated against you. Tell him he needs to return the money. How he does this is not your concern. He can take a loan out if necessary.

If he does not comply you will be issuing a claim against him, reporting him to the Financial Conduct Authority and copying his employer in to your letter. He will care about this.

Chat GPT will give you a great letter that will get results

You need legal advice OP

I think his issue is her £15 k is no longer 15k… it’s been invested in something volatile and lost money … so he doesn’t have that amount to give back
He’s hoping he will regain losses …

don’t think he was up to no good here. It was probably easier to manage money all in one place

Yes a joint name account would be fine to have joint ££ in one place
He works in finance
He knew isa was individual
He knew it was not joint

Easier to each manage an isa in their own names 2x isa allowance per tax year!!
Why did he get her to put her money in his isa? Mind boggles .

Why would the financial conduct authority care about what individuals have done?

He will have lost money too …

I doubt it. Our stocks and shares ISAs dipped for a bit but are doing really well now.

So sorry @FieldRunner but the money is now in his sole name and I doubt you’ll ever see it again unless he has a fit of conscience.

How is this theft or fraud ?
The value of her savings she gave to him has decreased
so he can’t give back what she gave him

Depends what he had it invested in I guess, he said it was volatile investment?