Freezing Joint Barclys Account- Opening my own

koro

Hi,

Unfortunately I am now having to go through a divorce. We have a joint bank account, which I now believe to be close if not over the overdraft limit. No excuses, but my wife dealt with all the banking, and now she readilly admits is going to take me to the cleaners..( she admits to having an affair with her boss)
So even though I am 45, I havn`t much idea about banking.

Tomorrow I am hoping to go into Barclays and ask them to freeze the account pending the divorce. If it is over the overdraft limit or close to wil they allow this? I am then hoping to open my own bank account and transfer all the direct debits across (my wages get paid into this). If I am ablle to do this, could I open an account with Santander? If I am close/over my overdraft would my credit rating be low? I have never owed money to anyone before, it wil get paid... Would asking for a new overdraft facility be asking to much?

I am finding that a divorce is expensive.

Any help would be much appreciated

DizzleUK

You wouldn't be able to close the account with anything outstanding and you would need your wife's signature as well as your own to close it. I'm not sure if you are able to freeze the account so no more is spent. There's no harm in explaining everything to Barclays asap.

Not sure I'd choose Santander as your new bank account provider though, but that's another story.

Just make sure you get your wages moved away from that account quickly, and remember that you are both responsible for repaying the overdraft and if she intends to take you to the cleaners, don't expect her to pay anything back. You'll end up being lumbered for it, and you'll both end up with a CCJ.

Don't worry about what she might get up to, just make sure you get yourself financially sorted first as quickly as you can, then burn her wardrobe after.

zppp

If you notify them that you are in dispute, they should be able to freeze the account to stop any further credits and debits, so you may want to redirect your salary if you are planning to do this. The account will then be dealt with as part of the divorce proceedings. Also, to remove the stop requires either both of you to sign or a court order.

koro

A quick update..

Shaking I went into Barclays today, explained everything and they were brilliant..doing there utmost to help me, account now froze. Opened my own.... now I need to figure out how to pay the dd`s before my wage packet goes in at end of the month...

They gave me £400 overdraft...I need more,lol...

MoneySavingUser

koro wrote: »

A quick update..

Shaking I went into Barclays today, explained everything and they were brilliant..doing there utmost to help me, account now froze. Opened my own.... now I need to figure out how to pay the dd`s before my wage packet goes in at end of the month...

They gave me £400 overdraft...I need more,lol...

Sounds like you were quite lucky - a lot of people have trouble with bank staff and freezing accounts for some reason

If they are for normal bills just cancel them and pay them manually a few weeks later when you have cash - you might get a red letter but as long as you aren't in loads of arrears it won't have a serious impact

koro

MoneySavingUser wrote: »

Sounds like you were quite lucky - a lot of people have trouble with bank staff and freezing accounts for some reason

If they are for normal bills just cancel them and pay them manually a few weeks later when you have cash - you might get a red letter but as long as you aren't in loads of arrears it won't have a serious impact

Doh, I never thought of that :beer:

As I had a cheque that had not yet gone through on a credit card, the bank girl is going to ring when it does, and then I go back in to formally freeze it. In the meantime, to stop my wife using the card, she said unofficially that perhaps I should ring in and report it lost, it would take a while for her to get a new one, by that time the account would be frozen. So fair play, she was wonderfull...