Need advice to protect money

Morning,

Would recommend that you open an account at a different bank in your name as soon as possible and have your income and household cash paid into it. It's tedious, you need to book an appointment and attend it bristling with ID and proof of address.

re joint accounts, the advantage is transparency, he can't deny you access. The disadvantage is the risk of your liability for his overdraft. We do have a joint account from which I administer my husband's allowance but all household money is in a separate account in my name. His wages go into our joint account and I move them out, however he cooperates with this and we don't play racing games to get to his wages first. I don't leave PINS lying around nor share passwords and I always enter passwords manually. To protect myself as best I can, I have written to the Head Office of the bank saying that I don't authorise any overdrafts or gambling transactions but any other transaction can be made by either of us.

re mortgage, there can't be any more borrowing against the house via the mortgage without your signature or fraud. If the house is in joint names, any dealings with it require your signature (or fraud but the checks are quite stringent). However, if one of his creditors gets judgement against him, your signature is not required for the creditor to register the judgement against his share of the house. None of the above is a substitute for legal advice and I recommend you get legal advice about the pros and cons of severing any joint tenancy.

Hope this helps.

CW

Hi

I have recently opened a few new current accounts (for the interest rates on savings) and opened them all online. There may be a delay while they check you out but I didn't have to go to any branches in person. If the mortgage is in joint names he shouldn't be able to borrow more on it without your signature. It would though be worth taking advice from your lender to see if there's anything else you can do to protect it from potential unauthorised borrrowing. It's also worthwhile getting him to register notices of correction with all three credit reporting agancies stating he does not wish to be offered credit even if he applies for it and/or appears to qualify.

I have a joint account with Mr L (the only financial connection with him that now exists) and I monitor it very, very regularly keeping the available balance at nil so I can see at a glance if anything is going on with it. He has a card on it but it has a very low OD limit which is enough for him to make any legitimate transactions he might need to but no more. I also see all receipts to make sure he's not taking out cash on the quiet. He doesn't routinely carry even small change. He has a basic bank account which doesn't allow OD's purely for receipt of his salary. I keep the card and operate the account, transferring his salary to my account. Several banks offer basic accounts but they don't advertise them as they make nothing on them.

re. the car. The registered keeper isn't necessarily the person who owns it. I got the sales invoice made out in my sole name and paid for the car through my sole bank account and I do this with any other largish purchases. As far as I'm aware this should protect the goods against any possible claims from creditors but again it's worth taking proper advice to make sure you cover yourself as far as possible.