Joint account overdraft with ex

toastedcoconut

Hi,

I’m in the process of divorcing my ex husband. We still have a joint account but I don’t use it, he has a few direct debits coming out of it which he keeps on top off. 

I was meaning to close it but have thought it would be useful to set up the kids direct debits for their sports/hobbies as at the moment I pay the majority and thought it might be fairer and more clear to go through the joint account. 

However, I have noticed that he occasionally transfers money from the joint account to himself and uses the overdraft. This is usually until his payday but will incure daily overdraft charges which he then settles as well. 

He is not good with money and had a lot of debt/credit when we were married which he was never fully honest about. He also used to randomly cancel my direct debits when I did use the joint account and I would miss a payment and end up with a mark on my credit file (I think on purpose).

my question is - is keeping a joint account where he uses the overdraft going to affect my credit rating? (I’m still trying to work out if he needs the money or is doing this to affect my credit rating) as if it is, I think I will leave the account. Otherwise I will keep it and suggest we use it for the kids and ask that he uses his own overdraft on his own current account (he may be doing this too).

DullGreyGuy

toastedcoconut said:

Hi,

I’m in the process of divorcing my ex husband. We still have a joint account but I don’t use it, he has a few direct debits coming out of it which he keeps on top off. 

I was meaning to close it but have thought it would be useful to set up the kids direct debits for their sports/hobbies as at the moment I pay the majority and thought it might be fairer and more clear to go through the joint account. 

However, I have noticed that he occasionally transfers money from the joint account to himself and uses the overdraft. This is usually until his payday but will incure daily overdraft charges which he then settles as well. 

He is not good with money and had a lot of debt/credit when we were married which he was never fully honest about. He also used to randomly cancel my direct debits when I did use the joint account and I would miss a payment and end up with a mark on my credit file (I think on purpose).

my question is - is keeping a joint account where he uses the overdraft going to affect my credit rating? (I’m still trying to work out if he needs the money or is doing this to affect my credit rating) as if it is, I think I will leave the account. Otherwise I will keep it and suggest we use it for the kids and ask that he uses his own overdraft on his own current account (he may be doing this too).

You still hold joint financial products so yes you will still be considered joint for any credit checking. 

A joint account is a joint and severable relationship so you each own 100% of what's in their and each 100% liable for any debts. You would need an exceptionally good relationship with your ex and be confident it will stay that way when either of you start dating other people etc to trust putting money in there to jointly pay for things you've agreed to pay for jointly. If there is a joint mortgage you may have little other choice but for anything else I'd be looking at making only one party liable and the non-liable party just transfers their share of the bill to the former. 

grumpy_codger

Any joint financial product creates a link between your credit histories/files and affects you. The sooner your get rid of joint accounts and disassosiate from your husband, the better for you. For 'joint' DDs you can open a dedicated sole account in your name and supply your ex with monthly statements if he wants to see how his contributions are used.

PRAISETHESUN

Personally I'd tell the bank that you want the joint account frozen until the divorce is finalised and then have it closed. He might be nice enough to pay off the overdraft now, but there's nothing stopping him from deciding he'd rather not, he disappears, and then your left picking up the pieces when the bank comes knocking on your door to repay the debt.

Holding the joint account will mean you stay financially linked (assuming no other joint products, like mortgages, etc), which means his poor credit can and will affect your ability to gain credit in future.