Joint account.

[supergran]

I have a joint bank account with my husband. We have separated and are no longer living together,I have put money in to pay the bills but he has took all the money out and the account has been frozen. Where do I stand please ?

[bednobs]

why has the account been frozen?
i'm afraid you've probably seen the last of that money

[hc4361]

A joint account means each is equally entitled to money in the account. The money in the pot can be dipped in to by each of you, regardless who put the money in to it.
He hasn't stolen the money.

You need to open an account in your own name and get all your income paid into that.

[Brinjal]

Never have had a joint account for that very reason that either party can draw from it. My oh has never been good with money and I have always kept a separate account.

[wildwood]

It has probably been frozen by your OH, after he cleaned it out. Nothing illegal about that.

[FredPuli43]

Not sure it's never illegal to empty the account. If a couple only had one account, held jointly, and one paid in for a specific purpose; put £20k in to buy herself a diamond ring,say, when there was only £1 in; and the other, knowing that, emptied the account, I've a strong feeling that would be a theft! Where money is held by someone for a specific purpose, whether or not jointly, and they deliberately apply it to their own use, that's dishonest; you wouldn't say that the treasurer who runs off with the Christmas club money wasn't stealing it would you, regardless of whether he himself had paid into the club?

i wonder whether the Bank knew that you were separated and froze the account for the very sensible reason that they feared misuse of it or arguments about it.

[boxtops]

I'm really sorry for you, but one of the first things I did when my ex and I were separating was to divide the money in our joint account by two, I took my half out and banked elsewhere, leaving him with the original account.

This may have been a vindictive move on behalf of your husband, but you need to bring this into the equation when you see your solicitor about the divorce settlement - he'll owe you some.

Who's paying the bills now, then?

[tonywiltshire]

Interesting point Fred.

If you are still on speaking terms with your ex-partner write a joint letter with them to have the joint account closed and open an account in your sole name, perhaps with another bank. If you are not on speaking terms write to the Bank and ask for your name to be removed, explain the situation, and say you will not be liable for this account in the future (I note it is frozen). Be prepared to pretend you are irritated with the bank if they refuse to remove you from the joint account on the basis that you are not the first named and insist they act.

[Vivkins3]

If your other half was able to withdraw money without your knowledge, the the account must have been set up on a "either signatory to order" (ESTO) basis - in other words, just one signature is needed to give instructions, That being the case, you can instruct the bank to close the account without the agreement of your other half.