Currently separated for three month. Husband had not been in contact for some weeks so sent a solicitors letter to him. He has texted me today to say he has cancelled all bills in his name cable, tv licence phone and is cancelling loan on my car. He wants me to hand him back the keys and car on Friday.

He has not put any money in bank for mortgage and joint bills. I cannot get hold of my solicitor.

Holly,

Contact your utility companies and your mortgage provider and explain the situation. You are commencing divorce proceedings and your husband is being difficult. You are unable to contact your solicitor until next week and will contact them as soon as you have had access to legal advice. They are not going to get excited about a week.

Send husbad a text reminding him that he is jointly and severally liable for the motrgaage and the utility bills and he will be pursued by the providers until any arrears are settled. He risks getting a bad credit rating if he allows the arrears to accumulate. If you are up to date with your mortgage, see if your lender will allow you to have a payment holiday of 3 months. Most lenders will do this. Gives you a litle breathing space.

The cable and TV license, just take out new contracts in your name and keep a note of what expenditure you have to make to return to where you were before he started with his nonsense. Deduct any additional charges from his financial settlement.

The car loan. Tricky one, as you said in chat that the finance company will not talk to you due to data protection. What a load of nonsense. If you rang and told them you were about to take it to Ireland and sell it for cash, you can bet your bottom dollar they would talk to you then.

If he has cancelled the loan in his name, he has to repay it. Without selling the car, he is in dickie's meadow to fund repayment of the loan. Possession is 9/10ths of the law. If it were me, I would hide it in a lock up garage and tell him I sold it for cash, just to annoy him. I am not suggesting you do that. At the end of the day, he is liable for the loan, so it is in his interest to lose the liability. Ask him outright to arrange to transfer the loan into your name, as you wish to keep the car. If he doesn't play ball, remind him that the loan is his sole responsibility and you have no intention of giving up your car, as you need it to get to and from work and live.

Some of this is likely to be 'teddies out of the pram' reaction to your solicitor's letter, but don't worry yourself too much. Nobody is going to get too excited about dealing with things until your solicitor is back.

Hope it helps,

Mike