Help - seperated and worried about joint debt.

worriedsinglemom

Hello

Me and my husband seperated in October 2008. I had £9000 of debt that was joint but stupidly in my name only. I have organised payment plans and reduced interest on that and managed to reduce it to £8000 in the last year. However we have a joint loan that I have only just become aware of the amount owed. I knew it was a joint loan for a car but its for £14000 not the £6000 I thought it was for. I've been paying my half of £50 for months as when I spoke to Black Horse they just told me the monthly payment and what I could pay. The amount owed was never mentioned and stupidly I never asked. As I say I've been paying my agreed payment since we've split but when I've spoken to Black Horse about the loan in the last few days they've advised me that my ex has not been paying for months.

Also I've found out from him that he is not keeping up the mortgage repayments and is £1800 in arrears with that. I live in rented accommodation as I didnt want to rely on him to pay the mortgage and I couldnt afford the payments.

I'm not sure what to do about these joint debts and I know I'm going to end up losing my new partner when he finds out about this as its going to affect our life together.

Any advice??

worriedsinglemom

Sorry I forgot to also say he isnt paying any maintenance for our 2 children. He has them 3 nights a week and the agreement was I wouldnt go for maintenance as long as he kept up all the payments. He's not doing so and when I mentioned going for maintenance he said he'd cause trouble for me and my new partner, get the house repossessed for definate and pack his job in.

I'm at my wits end. Please help

brians_daughter

Sorry to hear of your troubles.

If the debts are joint you are both laible

I would call

http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/

for assistance and guidance. I cant really help but just wanted to point you in the direction of these guys, or maybe

http://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/

They will advise further. Are you getting divorced? Maybe call your solicitor for help also?

I am sure your new partner will see it isnt your fault,and to be honest he would be a bit of a s**t to leave due to something that isnt your fault

re ex if he is prepared to pack in work he will get no benefits for 26 weeks - can he keep himself for 6 months before he can claim JSA just because you want support for your kids.

May also be worth popping in the child support forum for advice re child support
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.html?f=140


Someone will be along soon re the joint debts

Good luck

RAS

Are you making any contribution towards the mortgage?

worriedsinglemom

I'm not contributing to the mortgage as it was agreed between us that he would pay it instead of giving me any child maintenance however he's not now paying the mortgage.

worriedsinglemom

Also we are getting divorced its going through at the moment. The solicitor has said that she will address the financial issues once the divorce has gone thru but I am getting desperate now as the mortgage and loan are not being paid by him as agreed and I'm worried as I cant afford to pay them by myself. Also the contribution to the loan I can afford £50 per month is never going to clear the loan in my lifetime as there is still interest being added.

Its all such a mess

Welshdebtor

Sure someone will be along shortly who knows about this stuff, I just wanted to say your ex has his part to play in repaying the debts, regardless of how childish he is being.
I do not think your current partner will leave you just because of this, as its not your fault. Nobody asks to go into debt, it just happens (sadly).
Hope somebody comes along soon to put your mind at rest

kingfisherblue

My solicitor would not progress my divorce until all financial details had been sorted out. We had no debts (well, he had plenty, but they had all occurred after he left). The house, though, was another matter, as it has been adapted for our disabled child.

My solicitor told me that it would be harder to sort out financial stuff after the divorce and we both had to fill in a Form E (I think that is what it was called). The judge then made his decisions based on the information from our forms, plus what was revealed in court. It took almost four years for the divorce to come through, but a lot of the delay was because my ex wouldn't produce any financial documents for the courts until he had received warnings.

worriedsinglemom

Oh God I hope that this isnt going to go on for 4 years. I couldnt bear it. I was doing really well and feeling proud of myself as I'd sorted the debt out I'd got and working only part time thought £1500 reduction in 12 months was good. This has completely knocked me for six. I'm trying to save as much as I can I've even stopped myself buying chocolate etc as every penny counts now as I'm so determined to try and clear stuff.

I'm just so embarrassed and ashamed that I've ended up in this mess

Welshdebtor

worriedsinglemom wrote: »

......................I'm just so embarrassed and ashamed that I've ended up in this mess

Nothing to be embarrassed about, all posters on DFW are in the same boat or been there.

kingfisherblue

My case was probably the longest that I've heard of, and that was down to my ex delaying things. I'm sure your's will be much quicker. I just thought that it might be worth checking again with your solicitor about delaying the divorce until the finances are sorted out. Mine was pretty adamant that it was necessary to deal with them first, as we still had some control that way. It took a long time, but it worked for me. Once I was divorced, I knew that I had full control of my finances and that anything my ex did wouldn't affect my income/outgoings. The only thing that was affected was when the CSA caught up with him and he had to start apying CM and arrears, so that money has been a bonus, as I had managed without it for so long.