Joint account with Ex

[HellKitty]

Like the tin says!
I haven't used this account since 2005, I left him (EA control freak + more), changed my name legally back in 2010 and finally got divorced. It went on for ages as I couldn't pay my solicitor at the time. Today I ran a credit check and found I'm still linked to this joint account. Since I set away my divorce I worked out that this account was purely for moving his wages in, and the maintenance would come out of it. His wages would also be moved elsewhere as would very large sums of money £20k plus every other month. He lied about his money to me, my solicitor and also his - I couldn't give a flying fuck now though and cash is not what I'm after. I just want my name (in my married name) off this account and can't seem to do it. I don't want to be liable for any of his possible debts or linked to any of his dodgy dealings (the tax office is next on my list...).

The account is linked to two addresses, one is my previous home which he did pay the mortgage on but we never lived there as a couple and the other is his house, never been there in my life.

I finally got through to the bank earlier with the Acc number and sort code and was told by a very nice woman that I couldn't do anything, at least she didn't think so. I would have to go to the bank in person with XH (!!!) and close the account. That's not going to happen.

It's really pissing me off that he still has this control or link with me (the DCs don't want to know him but that's another story).

Throughout our marriage I was kept in the dark financially. I had no idea of his wages or dealings and he was sacked a number of times and didn't tell me. I was an idiot but when you're in that kind of EA situation you accept it as 'normal'.

Any idea what I could do?!

I don't know but would thoroughly recommend checking mse site for advice or post on a suitable forum there as this relates to finance law.

Thanks Bacon, I did have a look earlier but there were a few conflicting views and the last up-to-date post about this I could find was 2010. The bank didn't seem to know at all.

Conflicting responses to thread you posted?

You can cancel the mandate which automatically freezes the account. It doesn't close it, but he can't use it unless and until you agree to restore the mandate, so generally (especially if there is money in it) he would agree to do so.

If you instruct the bank that you have withdrawn your mandate, they have to freeze the account. Make sure they respond to you via email or letter so you can prove that this is done, and get a printout of any balance at the time you do so, so you can be free of any debt he may get into on the account - you remain liable for that.

No, conflicting views on a similar situation I read about on MSE, I've never mentioned this before.
The woman on the phone from the bank seemed confused too.

Sleeponeday. Brilliant! Could I do that by phone/email? The bank is in Scotland with no branches here.

Is it a Scots owned bank?

Yes, you can call them and explain you are withdrawing the mandate with immediate effect. But insist that they email you immediately to confirm that it has been requested, and also write a letter confirming it as well. Otherwise if a cockup happens and it isn't done, you can't prove the mistake was theirs.

The key thing is that you establish if the account is in credit first. If you freeze it with a debt, then he's not likely to be decent about paying it off himself, from what you say. If it is in credit get it frozen asap. He then will have a major incentive to agree to close it, so he can access the money.

Oh, and if they refuse to accept a phone instruction, send them a letter by registered, signed for delivery and print out the online proof of delivery, attaching it to a copy.

Make sure you request written confirmation that your account has been frozen, in line with your withdrawal of mandate.

(Scotland has different law, but in this case my understanding is that all that changes is that whoever paid the money in has greater claim to it, which isn't relevant to you.)

If Scottish law applies as far as I can tell you need a court order requesting the account be frozen.

You need a court order to close it, but you can withdraw a mandate, which has the effect of freezing it, in all UK legal jurisdictions, according to the CAB and Money Advice Service? Not saying that they are all right, but if they're not, their websites and staff training need updating (entirely possible, admittedly).

You need a court order to close it when who is entitled to what in the account disputed, I mean. Not if both parties agree.

Oh for goodness sakes! Argh!
It was with the BoS but the financial link is dated 2013 with Lloyds, I think they may have merged then? The last time I looked a few years ago it was in credit, he seems to keep it ticking over with a few Tesco payments. I did phone Llyods initially and was told to take it up with the credit check company (?!), managed to get a BoS number out of them eventually.

Check the balance - that's the first step. You need to monitor that so you act only when there is a positive balance.

Then call the bank and say you want to withdraw the mandate. The CAB has the same advice on the Scots and English sites, so that needs to be your starting point. If he has money in there, he has a good incentive to agree to close the account so he can access it.

From the RBS website:

How do we close our joint account?
If you wish to close your joint account, then both parties need to agree. If there are any regular payments on the account, or any debt to be paid off, you need to decide how that will be settled.

If there is a dispute between you then you can cancel the joint account mandate. Neither of you will be able to use the account until the dispute has been settled. Each individual will be held liable for any debt on the account.

If you would like to close your account, please call us or visit us in branch.

There you go. Remove mandate to freeze when the account is in credit, so he has to agree to closure to get his money out.

You Angels! Sometimes insomnia and Mumsnet really does help things!

I stand corrected sorry

Bank of Scotland is not the same as RBS (Royal Bank of Scotland).

www.bankofscotland.co.uk/bankaccounts/help/closing-your-account/

Different rules apply to savings accounts:
www.bankofscotland.co.uk/aboutonline/what-can-i-do-online/close-a-savings-account/?srnum=1

Ah, I stand corrected in my turn! Apologies, OP.

Having said that, the links aren't necessarily applicable to a joint account - which apparently can't be unilaterally closed, but can be unilaterally frozen if one party withdraws the mandate. That is the legal advice given by the various authorities. So that is what the OP needs to do.

Why does it need to be so bloody complicated? Seriously! In this day and age our finances should be simpler to manage especially wrt relationship splits! Another poster had hassle changing back to her maiden name on her account because the assistant she asked to do so was ill informed on the law an ignorant idiot

It used to be even worse, I think - I'm not sure when, but it looks like the system was simplified and regularised at some point, because it used to vary from bank to bank unless I am remembering this completely wrongly (always possible, obviously!).

It seems crazy to me that you can't close an account if one person no longer wants it. If there is money in it and dispute about ownership, the bank should hold it in escrow unless and until a court order releases it - no need to keep a joint account, and thus financial link, going at all.

Freezing via mandate removal is better than nothing, but it's not ideal, is it.

It's appalling. After my divorce, I was able to change nothing on the RBoS joint account because exH was the "leading" name and until he completed the necessary paperwork, I was stuck. Even though every transaction into that account for the previous 7 years had been money transferred from an account held by my sister and myself. (I couldn't use my sister's and my account as it was set up for a property that we jointly own and is only used for that for the sake of clarity for tax purposes.)

The bank made so many errors in the changing of things that they kept offering to give me compensation for those errors. (One of the best was them sending my bank statement to my ex-mil, who gleefully opened it, and then told others what I had been buying.) I think I eventually got about 300 GBP in total in compensation, but would greatly have preferred less stress.

The worst bit for me was that, following the divorce, because I had effectively no credit record of my own, the limit on my credit card was slashed, although for the 30-odd years I had had that account, it had been paid off monthly. There had been a four-figure balance at all times in the previous 10 years and there was monthly income going in. Also, my credit rating went down from 999 to 500-and-something. Three years later, the credit rating is still much lower than it should be but there doesn't seem to be an easy way to get around that. Last year, I was considering buying property: I would have been able to put down around 40% as a deposit; my income was secure and the monthly mortgage repayments would be less than I am currently paying in rent; but with my current credit rating, I can forget it.

Ironically, the joint account had originally been my account, opened in 1979 and I had added my husband to it - but back in 1988, they automatically changed it so that he became the "lead name". Grrrr.