Urgent Advice Needed - He's cleared the account

hi scottishlady i am a scottish as well and was wondering if you can give me any advice.my lawyer told me that until i hear from his lawyer there is no point in him(lawyer)taking any unnessecery money from me,to do what,nothing in his eyes.i have not even heard from him it was his girl friend who told me he would be filing for divorce i dont know even what grounds he will be divorcing me but the way she spoke it could be anything,seemingly i am alledged to have stabbed him with a screwdriver at some point in our 8yr marriage.i have no idea when i was supposed to have done this.is there anything that i can claim him for.there are no children and i am the sole owner of the house as i had it before we were married so in scotland it is not classed as part of the matrimomial home but there was a mention of equity.why should i give him anything when it was he who walked out and left me.hope you can give me some sound advice thanks susan

A lesson for any divorcing couple.

Ask the bank to freeze then cancel all joint accounts at the first opportunity.

Better still never have joint accounts. I never have and never will. You cannot trust anyone however close.

Natwest wouldn't let me do anything with our joint account. I had to get ex to sign a closure form. Fortunately she agreed without racking up on the overdraft facility.
I agree with the advice - NEVER have a joint account.

Hi Susan....
Unfortunately, although I am Scottish...I actually live in England, and understand very little about Scottish Law as far as divorce is concerned....
There are however, a few members on here that do reside in Scotland I believe, and who may be able to advise you....
I wish you luck...
With Kindest Regards
SL:)

Susie,

As far as clearing the account is concerned you need to have bank statements showing the balance in the account at the date of separation and the transaction withdrawing the money. The amount withdrawn can be balanced against other assets in the final settlement.

The reason for divorce doesn't effect the financial settlement. In modern marriages it is assumed that the contribution from both parties is equal. Sorry, but under Scottish law a house acquired by one party before marriage and used as a family home is included in the matrimonial 'pot.' The relevant legislation is s10 Family Law (Scotland) Act 1985;-

(1) ... the net value of the matrimonial property shall be taken to be shared fairly between the parties to the marriage when it is shared equally or in such other proportions as are justified by special circumstances......


(4) ...“the matrimonial property” means all the property belonging to the parties or either of them at the relevant date which was acquired by them or him (otherwise than by way of gift or succession from a third party)—

(a) before the marriage for use by them as a family home or as furniture or plenishings for such home; or

(b) during the marriage but before the relevant date.

Sorry to have heard about such a crappy way to be treated. I had an identical situation and the bank were quite horrible to me although utilities and other service providers were extremely helpful and allowed me to defer/spread payment. Sadly, posession is 9/10ths of the law and you will likely not see any of this money again.
Even more crappy is getting into a dispute about this simply escalates and there is no way out, ever.