Joint account question with BR...

desperatedad

Hi there, been a while since I last posted, but to cut a long story short it looks like I will be declaring myself bankrupt in the next few months all being well and this has been backed up by the CCCS who I currently have my DMP with who said it is by far the most sensible option for me in the long term.

I just wondered if anybody else had any comments/experience of the following...

Me and my wife have our own individual accounts where our wages are paid in and we use day to day, but we also have a joint account which we both pay a standing order into just after we get paid each month and this account is basically the bills account. We don't use it to pay for anything else, it just has ALL the direct debits associated with the house on it including the mortgage and it is also used to pay the nursary fees. The only thing we don't use it for is food and unforeseen expenses like car repairs, etc.

My understanding is that as this is a joint account and my name is on it, the OR will want to see it and it would be frozen with my own personal account, so I was wondering if it made sense (and if it was going to cause any problems or not later on when I go for br) if I phoned the account provider (Halifax in this case) and see if I could get that account turned into a single account in just my wifes name to disassociate myself with it and thus still be able to pay into it and run all our household related bills from it without the worry that it would screw up our whole system. Not trying to hide anything, jusy don't want to have to sort out so many DD's and the like on a perfectly working system. The account itself is slightly overdrawn on an agreed overdraft as it is, so not like we have any money in there and when our standing orders go in the entire amount disappears from the account over the course of that given month (except at the moment as stated we are coming up a bit short and need to increase what we are paying in - curse the ever increasing base rate and the effect its having on our mortgage payments!).

Any comments appreciated, especially if anyone has done anything similar or can suggest the best way to proceed here...

Regards
DD

tight_jock

desperatedad wrote: »

Hi there, been a while since I last posted, but to cut a long story short it looks like I will be declaring myself bankrupt in the next few months all being well and this has been backed up by the CCCS who I currently have my DMP with who said it is by far the most sensible option for me in the long term.

I just wondered if anybody else had any comments/experience of the following...

Me and my wife have our own individual accounts where our wages are paid in and we use day to day, but we also have a joint account which we both pay a standing order into just after we get paid each month and this account is basically the bills account. We don't use it to pay for anything else, it just has ALL the direct debits associated with the house on it including the mortgage and it is also used to pay the nursary fees. The only thing we don't use it for is food and unforeseen expenses like car repairs, etc.

My understanding is that as this is a joint account and my name is on it, the OR will want to see it and it would be frozen with my own personal account, so I was wondering if it made sense (and if it was going to cause any problems or not later on when I go for br) if I phoned the account provider (Halifax in this case) and see if I could get that account turned into a single account in just my wifes name to disassociate myself with it and thus still be able to pay into it and run all our household related bills from it without the worry that it would screw up our whole system. Not trying to hide anything, jusy don't want to have to sort out so many DD's and the like on a perfectly working system. The account itself is slightly overdrawn on an agreed overdraft as it is, so not like we have any money in there and when our standing orders go in the entire amount disappears from the account over the course of that given month (except at the moment as stated we are coming up a bit short and need to increase what we are paying in - curse the ever increasing base rate and the effect its having on our mortgage payments!).

Any comments appreciated, especially if anyone has done anything similar or can suggest the best way to proceed here...

Regards
DD

Hi DD

Not sure what is correct, but I would get the account into OH name for peace of mind. You will then be able to show your contribution to the household by the deposits. If you do do this then I would show a sum going in for your repairs to the car etc too.
Alternatively ,pay all your bits from your own account which you may find easier to reconcile with the paperwork.

:beer:

desperatedad

Ta for the reponse, didn't trigger many! Was hoping to find someone with a similar situation/tale to tell, but thanks anyway

I think I will see about making the JA to just the wifes name anyway, but continue to pay into it.

I just hope the OR won't be interested in it...

DD

Conor_3

The OR WILL be interested in it and the account will be frozen. You can ask them to unfreeze it - tell them it's your "living account". Usually takes about a day.

You won't be able to change it to a single name as banks don't do that anymore -they want you to close it and open up a new account - so it's not worth going that route.

We just kept ours going and apart from the day freeze and having to take the Visa Delta cards/chequebook back to be exchanged for Visa Electron cards, there was no hassle. I informed the bank I was declaring a week before I did and it enabled things to be put in place.

allofadither

Hi desperatedad,

I removed my name from our two joint accounts days before I went BR for exactly the same reasons you have stated. I declared both of these on my SoA and sent the OR the statements.

1. The OR did raise an eyebrow but nothing more (and only because this was the first time she had encountered this situation)
2. The bank did not freeze the accounts and have continued to pay the DD's etc and even left the OD's in place.

I have opened my own basic account with the same bank.

I hope this is helpful, but banks can be awkward so no gaurantee it will be the same for you.

desperatedad

allofadither,

I know banks can be awkward, that is my worry, but it seems to of worked out for you and there is no harm in asking I suppose...

Hopefully if I go down this route it will work out the same way as that is exactly what I had hoped to do. You don't bank with Halifax do you by any chance if you don't mind me asking? Thats who I'm with...

Thanks for your feedback everyone.

DD