Splitting Your Finances When You Separate Or Divorce
When you have made the difficult decision to finally leave your spouse, you are likely to be so emotional that the last thing you want to think of is your finances. But if you fail to, you could find that you lose out considerably in the long run.
Once you have decided to split, you need to start to take control of your financial affairs. If you do not, you may find that by the time you get around to it, your spouse has moved before you have. For example, if you have joint accounts, then be fair about splitting the money. If you do not trust your ex, then the only thing you can do is to freeze the account. But be wary of withdrawing all of the cash for yourself, as if the pair of you are unable to agree a financial separation and it goes to court, your actions could be taken into consideration. That works both ways though, if your partner decides to clear the accounts.
Of course, there are other items which may be shared, cars, the home, joint loans among other things. You have to take into account all of the items you jointly own, as any court will try to split items fairly, and if one partner has been unfaithful, for example, that will not necessarily impact on the way assets are split.
The most important thing to do is ensure that you formally split your finances from that of your ex-partner, as until you have done this, then credit reference agencies will continue to link the two of you when it comes to sourcing loans and credit.
