Advice on a nasty break-up - debts owing?

larryuk

Hello,

Hope someone her can help,

My aunty is going through a bit of a messy separation with her husband, (my step-uncle).
They have a few money problems to say the least.
He's accrued tens of thousands in credit card debts, and they have just sold their house. My aunty has now moved into rented accommodation.
After a recent turn of events he has got quite nasty (his infidelity is the reason for the break-up) and has stated that he will take her for all that she has got. (which is really nothing at the moment as there was no equity in their house), the only thing she has is a pension pay-out due this September in the region of £25k. He has stated that he wants half of this and that he wants her to take responsibility for half of his credit cards.

This is my main question. He owes close to £75k on credit cards, which are all in his name, although my aunty was an additional cardholder. Is she responsible for the debt on these cards or can she be held liable for any part?

System

He sounds like a thoroughly nasty piece of work! Unfortunalty, I have no idea re: the pension but for the debts, if she signed on them, she is joint and severly (sp) liable unfortunatly. The best advice is go to see a solicitor who will know whats what. Most solicitors will offer the first half hour free, so she should be able to get a general jist of it from that.

mr218

unless she is the main cardholder, i dont think she can be solely responsible for these debts. not sure if being a spouse makes her liable to half the debts.

margaretclare

Others will no doubt be along shortly to give you better advice. But FWIW if credit cards in one person's name then that person is responsible. It's possible to have an additional cardholder, but that's not the same as having joint debts e.g. like a joint mortgage or loan in both names. Look at this: http://www.payplan.com/glossary-debt-terms2.php and scroll down to where it says: 'Joint and several liability'.

Your aunty should not be pressurised into doing anything at all, not agreeing to anything, without having good legal advice. This is (sometimes) available via the CAB. Have a look at this: http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/index/family_parent/family/ending_a_relationship.htm

Bossyboots, where are you? In a divorce, it's possible to 'split' a pension accrued by one person so that the other person gets a share. But I don't think it's designed to pay off the other person's debts, just to give some form of financial security and usually the pension has to be re-invested in the other partner's name. But Bossyboots is the best person to advise.

Best wishes

Aunty Margaret

larryuk

Well thankyou for the replies so far.

Basically he is on over £2K a month, but my aunty only brings in about £1200 from her salary.
He is threatening to take half of everything she has got, and in particular mentioned the pension payout, but I think she has the option of delaying it until she is 65, (another 15 years) although this is not something she wants to do as she needs the money.

He thinks he can make her responsible for half of what he owes on his cards, and i gather he has recently taken a consolidation loan for £60k, again, this is in consolidation of cards that were in his name as the main cardholder, and the consolidation loan is in his name.

My aunty has managed to pay off some of her debts with her half of the equity in the house, but that left her with nothing.

She is just worried that after losing there house, possibly half her pension, that she might be landed with half of his credit card debts.

Hopefully that is not the case as some have hinted.

rchddap1

The best thing that you can do is to get in touch with a solicitor. They will be able to tell you all the legal ins & outs. It could be a simple case that her ex partner has got some info and is hoping to frighten her into doing what he wants. With luck a solicitor will be able to write him a letter essentially telling him to go and get knotted, but they'll have all the legal know-how to be able to do it properly.

It is honestly the best way that she can protect herself.

Bossyboots

Hi there,

She is not liable for the credit cards debts per se. As an additional cardholder she has no liability as she has not signed the agreement. She also has absolutely no liability for the loan taken out in his name alone.

However, as Aunty Margaret says, pension sharing is a typical part of divorce settlements these days but that is balanced against the earning capacity of the other spouse. Therefore, if the husband is capable of earning a decent salary, he will get no pension sharing or a reduced amount depending on his future needs. Pension sharing is not a tool for clearing debts or allowing a spouse to avoid employment where it would ordinarily be expected for them to work. The main ethos of it is that while the pension was being contributed to over the years this money was being diverted from the daily needs of the family. This is fine when a couple get the benefit of the pension in retirement but of course if they split, one spouse may have a greater benefit from that money at the expense of the other. (Thats a bit of a crude definition but the way I find most people usually understand it). By and large, men have greater earning capacity (although if it is the wife in the better position the role would be reversed) and traditionally have better pensions. (This of course is changing now but I am trying to generalise a bit to explain it). Therefore, men reach retirement with a better potential income, accrued by reduced financial input into the matrimonial home. Therefore, the wife with the lower retirement income who may well be in that position by staying at home or taking a lower paid job while homemaking, is entitled to a share of the husband's pension and this is done by creating a pension splitting annex to the court order made at the time of the divorce.

As part of the negotiation for the pension splitting (and this has to be considered, even if the result is that it is not appropriate in this case) will also be the issue of the credit card debts. If the aunty has run up some of the debts herself, then consideration would have to be given about whether she should pay a contribution to the debt for those purchases. If the uncle has run up all the debts for his own pleasure rather than for contributing to the household, he will be expected to pay them all himself. If the debts were for contributions to the household then again, it could be argued that it is reasonable for the aunty to pay a share as she will have had the benefit of the purchases.

Again, that is a very general outline of the position. Each case is judged on its own merits and decisions made accordingly. He certainly cannot just make the demands he has and expect to get what he wants.

What is clear here is that the aunty here needs some professional legal advice from someone to whom she can give all the facts and figures. It is possible she would be entitled to advice under the legal aid scheme (this would depend on her income).

I hope this all makes sense (I am trying to juggle three things at the moment and might have lost my way a bit) but please pick up any points that are unclear or ask if you want to know anything else.

margaretclare

Hi larry

Why not print off the whole of this thread and give it to your aunty to read? It sounds as if this man is playing 'mind-games' with her, emotional blackmail really, all too easy to agree to what he suggests just to get the break-up over and done with, but that would be a big mistake. Aunty should NOT do anything, as Bossyboots has said, until she gets proper professional legal advice. OK it may cost a little money, but I'm a great believer in 'you get what you pay for'. Legal advice from a professional who can help her, is what Aunty needs. CAB will have lists of family lawyers, maybe some that they work with.

Best wishes. Not a pleasant situation - good for you, being so supportive.

Aunty Margaret