Wife took out credit in my name and her own bank account

twadds123

Parents will wish to help their children regardless of age, I see no issue with this, however i'd say sit back and advise and let him write any letters and get in touch with companies if you go down that route.

What you can do really depends on the state and future of the marriage,  any action thats wished to take with the companies who supplied the accounts is likely to include the need for a crime reference, it's not the companies who have acted illegally it's his wife.

So if the marriage is over or falling apart then he will need to go down official routes and report as fraud, get reference numbers and provide the relevant information to the companies so they can investigate the fraud and take action.

If the marriage is ongoing it may be better to have a good look at his credit files and ensure nothing else is out of order, make sure payments have been made on time etc.  Then get the wife to pay off the accounts herself and then get them closed.  He would then have to make sure he was frequently checking that nothing like this happened again.

So in short the right course really depends on the state and future of the marriage and your sons willingness or not to report the fraud.

pbartlett

Because the other party is his wife, your son may not of course wish to pursue this matter further....

However, it might be worth somehow gently getting the message to his wife that (especially in this day and age) it is not a good idea to fraudulently fill in forms relating to financial matters. If discovered, getting a CFIAS marker against her would be probably the best outcome she could expect.

bris

Isn't this only a problem if they split up and she doesn't pay? Ok maybe she should have asked, if she can/t get credit and needed to use the OH name.

But right now aren't they married and in a trusting relationship? The begger problem OP has is if the wife finds out about this meddling in their affairs,

pbartlett

Yes I agree with this although the other slight problem seems to be the wife's lax approach to filling out financial application forms which might come back to bite her one day

HampshireH

tripled said:

HampshireH said:

Ubique said:

Thanks for all your comments they are appreciated. He works away (RAF) and is not home on a regular basis but due to COVID.he has been stuck at home and of course he received the mail as he was there and this was the first time he was aware of the use of his name on the accounts. I get the comments that he may well be responsible for the debt but if it is that easy to put someone's name on an agreement with their own bank account free living comes to mind... 

I don't wish to sound rude but;

* Your son is old enough to decide to get married

* Your son is old enough and presumably switched on enough to be in the RAF

He is a grown up, married man.

Your son really shouldn't need Daddy sorting out his bills or interferring in his marriage - which this will of course amount to.

He needs to check his credit files and sort it out himself. If you have, as you say made your son's financially aware then I'm sure he has the know-how & common sense to make a few phone calls /run a credit report, check there are no more and have a conversation with his wife.

It does suggest they have issues (perhaps financial) though if she is taking out finance in his name and without his knowledge. Again it's not your marriage.

Also..... You have said you will sort this out but your original post implied neither of you were sure if he was responsible or not. Are you in any better position to be taking over and acting on his behalf?

I can't see how your involvement will help him. But I can see how it could cause problems for him.

Apologies if this sounds harsh but this really isn't for you to do.

What's wrong with someone asking a parent, friend, lover or brother for advice? Or even, dare I say it, a forum?

Advice? Nothing.

Intending to write to financial companies on behalf of a married man who really should talk to his wife. Well that's not advice that's getting involved.

It would be different if OP had said, "My son has told me x. He has spoken to his wife and they have asked for my help".

If this has happened we havent been told. As it is the wife is taking out credit in her husbands name. She seemingly isn't aware of her father in law's ntention to write to these companies telling them she has fraudulently applied for credit and who are taking funds from her account in payment.

The wife needs to be aware of OPs intentions or the son needs to do it as OP could ruin his sons marriage (if she hasn't done that herself already).

It's his son who should be making the decisions here.

eskbanker

Ubique said:

He's only just found out that 2 accounts exist in his name only. Is there a responsibility by the creditors to show due diligence and actually check who's name the account is in...?

Ubique said:

I will be writing to the companies and asking those questions ... it just seems to me that as long as they have a name and an account number they put it through. Doesn't sit right with me. Of course I am a concerned Dad and I will get this sorted out for him.

As pointed out by others, financial institutions wouldn't deal with you (unless you have power of attorney for your son) so the only way this would work is if you sent letters in his name, i.e. masquerading as him, which would definitely be somewhat ironic in the circumstances....!

born_again

pbartlett said:

For the sake of absolute clarity your son's wife has committed fraud which is a criminal offence as she has presumably signed the loan application declaring everything above is true etc etc

Your son (or indeed anyone else who has a loan fraudulently taken out on their name) is absolutely not responsible for the debt - all they have to do is contact the company involved and explain that the debt application was fraudulent.

Any card provider would be looking to see a prosecution, not just a crime number.
Add in this is a civil matter. So that is another card that can be played.

Do you really expect a husband to see their wife prosecuted for fraud and possible jail? 

[Deleted User]

born_again said:

pbartlett said:

For the sake of absolute clarity your son's wife has committed fraud which is a criminal offence as she has presumably signed the loan application declaring everything above is true etc etc

Your son (or indeed anyone else who has a loan fraudulently taken out on their name) is absolutely not responsible for the debt - all they have to do is contact the company involved and explain that the debt application was fraudulent.

Any card provider would be looking to see a prosecution, not just a crime number.
Add in this is a civil matter. So that is another card that can be played.

Do you really expect a husband to see their wife prosecuted for fraud and possible jail? 

Yes if they want the debt to go away from their own account. Not a chance in hell they will be able to "play" any card - either report for fraud or pay the debt. Plenty of spouses are involved in criminal proceedings against their partner.

Sandtree

born_again said:

pbartlett said:

For the sake of absolute clarity your son's wife has committed fraud which is a criminal offence as she has presumably signed the loan application declaring everything above is true etc etc

Your son (or indeed anyone else who has a loan fraudulently taken out on their name) is absolutely not responsible for the debt - all they have to do is contact the company involved and explain that the debt application was fraudulent.

Any card provider would be looking to see a prosecution, not just a crime number.
Add in this is a civil matter. So that is another card that can be played.

I would be surprised that it goes as far as having to see a prosecution... if a prosecution is attempted or its decided that a police caution or such is a better solution is fairly complex and involving bodies like the CPS.

In my world of insurance we'd buy a copy of the police report, we don't require there to have been a prosecution but do need to see the one alleging theft/fraud by their family member was fully compliant with the process and that decision not to prosecute wasnt due to total lack of evidence etc.

Unfortunately police reports are sometimes fairly sparse and you just have to go on what you're given.

I don't recall the rational for the CPS decision making it into the reports but from a few conversations over the years for relatively minor financial crime between relatives it seems some think its not in the public interest to go through the court process.

pbartlett

Is it not more likely that they would just put a CIFAS marker on her, especially since there appears to be no attempt to defraud the money with no intention of paying it back?