getting ex off joint a/c and credit rating

jandanjan

This is on behalf of a friend.


She is the main earner and her husband "looked after" the monies. He was meant to look after the 11 year old daughter but this came down to him driving her to and from school everything else has been done by my friend and he sits around all day doing nothing. He has worked but all cash in hand and none of that money has ever gone into the house. She changed jobs and he assured her there was "lots of money" but on investigation she discovered that he has spent every single penny she has ever had, he also made no pension provisions when she was self employed and he has run up over £40K in Credit card bills. The only asset they have is a house with equity in it. He is also an alcoholic and verbally and physically aggressive. There is a joint account ( it was originally a sole account in her name but he had himself added under pressure and this is now the problem.


He lies constantly and the loss of everything was the straw that broke the camels back and resulted in her deciding to seek a divorce. She opened up her own bank account to cover all the costs of running the house etc. She still lives in the house while the divorce is going through as if she moves out he simply will never leave. She now has the decree nisi through and wants to close the joint account. This is the account the minimum CC payments of his comes out of and the lawyer has said she has to stop paying his loans for him as she is almost down to no money at all. He wouldn't go to a Mediator to resolve the divorce and has told her in writing " I will drag you through the courts and make it as difficult as possible for you " and is hoping she runs out of money. She has offered a 50/50 split but he says he wants the house and her to pay it off and the child as well.


She went to Barclays today to freeze the joint account as they wont close it but Barclays suggested she doesn't do this as the direct debits for his CC bills will bounce and this will impact her credit rating. He has money ( he transferred £2K into the account from Paypal and took it out in cash the day after she paid the minimum on the CC bills). he needs to transfer the CC direct debits to his own account and pay them himself but Barclays are saying as I now realise that if he defaults in the joint account it will impact on her credit rating.


What can she do to reduce the impact - she simply cannot keep paying his CC bills he's racking up more and more debt on them and went and bought a £40K car a few months ago on a loan but this was after divorce proceedings so she not liable for it but he just wants to sit and drink all day and make life difficult.
His wine bill alone is over £700 a month but the doctor has said not to stop buying it as he might get very sick as a result of this as a detox for the amount he drinks is needed to be done under medical supervision.


She's never been in debt and finds this horrendous to have lost it all but the main thing she wants is to be able to get another mortgage in a few years once she has got the decree absolute through the court and custody sorted and she can start again but these CC direct debits could come back to haunt her.


Any advice ?? Barclays have been very unhelpful even sending out her own account bank statements when specifically told not to which of course he opened.

Tixy

Is the bank account in credit or overdrawn?
Is the house and mortgage in joint names?

You say she asked barclays to freeze the account - did she ask if there was a way to just close it without his permission? or if one of the account holders can be removed without the consent of both?

Are the credit cards also with barclays or are they with different banks? If they are not with barclays then she could cancel the DDs to his credit card providers.

If he is opening her post then she may want to consider getting post addressed to her redirected via the post office (to a friend/family member).

shaniannie

Is all the debt: any overdrafts, loans, CCs, anything - in his name, her name, or both their names?


If it's all in his name, she just stops paying it and contacts the credit reference agencies to disassociate herself from him.


The fact the CCs are paid out of a joint account is irrelevant, if that joint account balance isn't negative.


It won't make a difference to her credit record if the CCs min payments bounce back from a closed account, IF the cards are in his name.


Is she footing the £700 a month bill for his wine? If she is, WHY?!

27yearoldmale

What kind of wine is this guy drinking! Cocaine!?

Get this guy into re-hab!

Moral of the story - never have a joint account - will always end in tears,

Thrugelmir

No job. £40k of credit card debt, then gets finance for £40k car.

If you are going to write fairy tales make them accurate.

jandanjan

he bought a £40K car on a pay £600 per month for 2 years and then final payment after two years or hand the car back. He has bought cars from them before. Because the joint account is in credit and there are no marks on the credit rating he got the loan no idea how. She earns very well although he overspends. I agree completely she could not understand how he got the funding but it seems because the there is equity in the house ( around £100K) and not defaults at all he got finance. She has offered 50/50 split of the house but he wants the house paid off and for himself.


the CC are in his name and not with Barclays thanks for the question.


The joint account is not in debt she funds the CC payment at the moment but cant do so anymore.


The wine - agree but the doctor has advised her not to stop buying it as it could cause big health problems. Please do not forget the statement he has been physically violent in the past and is verbally abusive so sometimes we make decisions based on safety. Because the custody hearing is coming up she is there for the child and he will not hit her in from of the child.

jandanjan

yes house in joint names although he has never contributed. He buys and sells cars and trades and has a separate account and that might be how he got the credit but he will not say if there is any money there but it might be where all her money has gone its impossible at the moment to find out.