Stolen money

Hi.
My name is Ron. 14 weeks ago my wife walked out and has not come back. I have been married for 18 years. In that time my wife has left more
than twenty times. Whenever there's a small problem, she runs off. The first time she did this was, coming back from our honeymoon in Spain.
The most time away is about, two weeks. She's now been gone 14wks.
This is just to give an idea of what is going on. My
main problem at present is, she emptied our joint account, and the end of last month withdrew £50.000 of our premium bonds. The bonds were in her name but the money did not belong to her. The money came from the sale of my house that I owned outright. The prizes from the bonds were to make sure she always had some income. I need some advice as to what I can do.

Thanks.

Probably not what you want to hear but if the premium bonds were in her name then it's her money and she is free to sell them.

Same with the joint bank account. She is perfectly entitled to take money out of it including putting it into overdraft.

Best bet is to get rid of the joint account.

Thank you.
So my house is solely in my name, so lme free to sell it if I wish!

Ronald1 wrote:

Thank you.
So my house is solely in my name, so lme free to sell it if I wish!

Yes. Unless she puts a matrimonial home rights notice on it to prevent you from doing so. Which will probably happen as soon as you put it on the market.

Everything forms part of the pot for division if you go on to divorce whether it's in your name, her name or held jointly. After a long marriage starting point will be 50:50 but may be adjusted based on needs.

If either of you dispose of assets then you will need to show what you have done with them or the money from the sale but as it stands, selling premium bonds in her name and withdrawing money from a joint bank account is not theft which is what your initial post was asking.

So the answer is No. Ime not free to sell it. But the law allows her to take my money from the sale of a house I had even before I met her. My agreement with her was. I put the money in bonds to provide a regular income for her to make sure she always had money. I know. Mug!