BF desperately needs to seperate her finances from her ex h who is currently building up debt at an unbelievable rate - suggestions desperately wanted.

[Wills]

Hi,

A close friend is going through a nightmarsih divorce. After 2 years of desperately trying to make a go at it with her husband she discovered that he was on drugs and had been lying to her about everything. For her its been pure hell and its taken her a while but now she's finally starting to realise that she needs to part from him as fast as possible. She has absolutely no idea how much debt he has built up but she has baliff's on the door step and knows its a matter of time before the house is repossessed and she is homeless. She works two days a week and its not enough to cover the bills/mortgage. He meanwhile has moved out into one of the two flats that they had bought for their pension. She suspects that its a matter of days before all is taken away and wants desperately to disassociate herself from this debt as soon as possible. What can she do. I'm off next week and we plan to work on this together (she can't face it on her own yet). At the moment she's not really got enough to feed the kids so she really is desperate. Things I can think of include:
Telling the child benefits office
Council tax people
What else?

She has an ISA which she will have to cash in but is desperate that this wont go on paying off his debts.

Would report him to CSA but he's not working either. Claimed his business went under because of lack of business but bf now feels that this drug thing has been going on for a long time and feels that she has been such a fool (which she hasn't - you don't sit there waiting for the person you love to be a complete shit to you!).

Need a plan of action and am hoping that you'll all give me some ideas.

Thanks

I know that you can obtain a credit report and get an amendment put in to say that you are no longer jointly financially linked or something

Good idea.

Now that's she's single does she qualify for benefits?

everything that is in her name cannot be taken by baliffs (know this was a law a few years ago but dont know whether it has change)

She's hired a solicitor who is very good but she's petrified to use him for the finances as he's expensive. Instead she's got him focusing on ensuring the her ex doesn't have free reign with their daughters. She doesn't trust him not to take drugs around them.

She needs to see a solicitor fast.

Most will give her the first hour consultation free. If she's married, she may well be jointly liable for his debts, and credit companies always come after the most reliable party (which sounds like her). That may have changed, I don't know.

Legal advice is an absolute priority here.

TBH, it sounds to me like it would be worth her while using her expensive solicitor for this. It might save her a lot of money in the long run, and maybe he can save her from re-possession.

What a terrible thing to happen to her.

She will curl up with complete horror that I'd told anyone but... heroin and cocaine. She's started finding out and it explains the last few years of his behaviour. Personally I can't believe she's stayed with him this long he's big a total pig for years now - arrogant.

We've been talking about supervised visits. She doesn't want her kids going through that but at the same time I suspect she's heading there. I strongly suspect that part of her is still hoping to wake up and find out that this is a nightmare and the man she married is still there beside her.

There's no way I'd let him near my children, except in a supervised centre.

I wouldn't let them in his home, even with someone else there to supervise.

Your poor friend.

FioFio, she'd be soooo happy to know anyone else this has happened to. We're both going to a families + drugs support group next Tuesday evening where I hope she find the sort of understanding that I so desperately want to give but can't because I simply don't know. Until this week I didn't even know that heroin was bad FGS. He'd told her initially that he was speed and she found that hard enough but then she discovered he was heroin and completely fell apart. I didn't know what to say, I just simply didn't realise that heroin was worse than speed. I so desperately want to help but am out of my depth here, all I can do is be there when she needs me.

Will try to speak to a CSA today and start looking into benefits. any other ideas?

Definitly speak to CAB with regards to the bailiff's rights.

Also an idea to get him off the voters roll at the address she lives at Speak to council). The roll is often checked when obtaining credit and if he's not registered at that address he won't be able to obtain new credit using it.

You're right about the fear of shame. She wants to curl up with horror and embarrassment.

Umm can you take him off the electoral register if he owns half the house? Its a joint mortgage.

She must get to the solicitor asap. I am sure you can get emergency orders requesting assets being frozen or something like that. Given that they actually have assets worth keeping, I think it would be well worth spending a couple of hundred quid getting emergency advice & action from a solicitor.

Wills - electoral register is about whether you live there, not whether you own the property. They normally only update the register once a year so she may not be able to get him taken off before then, but it's worth contacting the local authority to see.

Would echo what a previous poster said, get his name taken off the electoral register so that he will no longer be able to get credit at that address. Then I would get her to have a talk with him and talk about getting his name taken off the mortgage of the house she and her children are living in. Once they are separated, if creditors are coming after debts that are in his name they will only be able to seize assets that are in his name, and therefore if the house is in her name only it will not be subject to repossession. If he argues the point then I would get her to say to him that he can consider his half of the house to be payment in lieu of maintenance for his kids, because, if we?re honest, if he?s in that much debt then it is highly unlikely he will be in a financial position to pay her maintenance, and although she is entitled to it, it?s best for her to take what she can now before the creditors take what is left. I would then speak to his creditors re the debts and advise them that he is no longer resident at that address, and give them his new address. If there are overdue bills on the address she is currently living at, i.e. council tax, utility bills etc, then she will need to speak to the companies involved, because as a resident of that address she is partly liable for those bills, but most utility companies and council are sympathetic if you approach them and try to come to an arrangement re payments, and don?t let it get to a point where bailiffs become involved because once that happens then the debts will begin to increase, with payments being added every time a letter is sent or a bailiff comes calling. She should then speak to her local benefits office and find out what benefits she is entitled to. I know nothing about benefits, but I?m sure she will be entitled to something, but this will be dependent on whether she works and how much she earns etc.

OK so.
Visit CAB
Tell Mortgage, banks, bills etc
Freeze assets
Council Tax
Anything else?

Sorry posts crossed - splitting the house is a good idea.

can she gets the houses and flats on the market so that she can payoff the mortgages before they are repossed? shes bound to get more money that way, equally if she does it and instructs her solicitor then she should be able to keep control of her half of the proffits

A long shot but if he is seriously affected by drug addiction you may be able to get a power of attorney if he can be diagnosed as medically or mentally unfit...
I think you'll need a damn good legal specialist for that though.