Halifax Joint bank account with Ex husband

undlou

Hello,

We have recently received a decree absolute and are now waiting for our consent order to be approved by the court.

I want to remove my name from the joint account but I am worried my ex will purposely put the account into its overdraft to prevent me from coming off the joint account and leaving me to pay half.

Is there something I could do now to stop this from happening? I cant get to the bank until the weekend so I would like to do something before then if at all possible.

How long does it take Halifax to process your request to remove yourself from a joint account?

Thank you.

noh

You should call them and tell them the account is in dispute.
They should then freeze the account until you are able to get into a branch.
See section I page 32 of http://static.halifax.co.uk/assets/pdf/bankaccounts/pdf/bank-account-guide.pdf

15.3 If we become aware of a dispute between you, we may take steps to prevent any of you giving instructions or using the
account individually until the dispute is ended.

davethorp

Can!!!8217;t speak for Halifax but when I split with my long term partner last year removing myself from or closing a number of joint accounts including one with Lloyd!!!8217;s banking group which halifax is a part of was instantly done in branch. However both me and my ex were present in branch when this was done. I don!!!8217;t know if you could do it on your own.

It took a couple of months for this to update with the credit reference agencies and once it did I applied to them to disassociate myself from my ex and would suggest you do the same. You can sign up to free services to monitor the credit reference agencies through noddle, clear score and MSE credit club and you should ideally sign up to all 3

You might be able to place the account into dispute with Halifax which would effectively freeze it until it is transferred to a sole name and prevent further transactions which may send it overdrawn. You could also log into your internet banking and remove any arranged overdraft facility on the account until it is transferred to sole names

EDIT crossed posts with Noh who has provided good advice about placing the account in dispute

benjus

Some useful information here: https://www.savvywoman.co.uk/2013/07/what-your-bank-should-do-if-you-have-a-joint-account-and-you-split-up-and-why-they-may-not/

Try asking for the account to be frozen or changed to a "both to sign" account where both account holders must approve all transactions. However, bear in mind that changing to "both to sign" might make it more difficult to close the account or have your name removed depending on Halifax's policies.

You may find that closing the account is easier to do than having your name removed from it. You might even be able to close it unilaterally without your husband's signature (I managed this with Nationwide a few years ago) but YMMV.

undlou

Thank you, everyone. You have all been very helpful indeed. I will contact the bank now and advise them the account is currently in dispute and to cancel our overdraft. Thanks again!!!

jonesMUFCforever

Just in case you are under the mistaken thought that you are only liable for half of any overdraft - you (and your ex) are both liable for the whole amount - they don't care who pays which % they will chase you both for total repayment.
I hope that when you told Halifax and the account has been put into dispute that it was in credit.

Dobbibill

The easier/quicker option would be to close it. Put a request in writing to close the account with immediate effect. Only you need to sign that.

It may take longer to resolve a dispute and you could find you are linked financially for a long time.