Joint Account: What to do on separation?

Information taken from the Money Advice Service at https://www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en/articles/how-to-protect-your-finances-during-separation as of February 2019.

If you have joint accounts or loans with your ex-partner, you should contact your bank or loan provider to explain what has happened. This is especially important if your break-up isn’t amicable. With any joint loan or overdraft, you are each liable for the entire debt.

You should ask your bank to change the way any joint account is set up so that both of you have to agree to any money being withdrawn, or to freeze it. Be aware that if you freeze the account, both of you have to agree to ‘unfreeze’ it. This might be a problem if your ex-partner doesn’t want to co-operate.

Make sure you stop any wage payments from going into your joint account if you’re worried that your ex-partner won’t agree to you taking out this money.

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