discharged in 3 months - small windfall, advice.

Is it online gambling or did you place the bet through a bookies (in person)?

If the latter I wouldn't mention it, but if having to deposit into a bank account personally i'd be worried and looking over my shoulder.

Hi,

I'm only going to give the legal position; Your win is 'after acquired property' (AAP) which is property that comes in to a bankrupts possession after bankruptcy is declared but before discharge.
AAP is treated in exactly the same way as if you had that money at the time you were declared bankrupt.

I'm afraid that you have a duty to disclose it, and that the money belongs to the OR.

Sorry.

DD

1. The money should legally be declared to the OR and go in their direction.

2. In theory, yes the OR can access all your accounts because you will have signed a form when you got your bankruptcy 'welcome pack' waiving data protection (and worryingly this isn't time-limited to your year of bankruptcy!). However, HOW will they discover your new account? They don't have the time, money or inclination to write to every bank in the country with a list of current bankrupts' names asking if they've set up an account recently and can we have the statements please... Unless you have an IPA in which case you have to provide them.

3. I don't think it would be an IPA as such because it would be seen as a windfall and they would make a one-off order to reclaim it if they knew about it.

Did you gamble in person or online? If in person and technically anonymous, then I suppose there is no paper trail and you only have your conscience to convince. If online then perhaps it's traceable as the winnings need to be sent to a bank account (yours, necessarily?).

To re-gamble the money without withdrawing it is probably a grey area and I doubt the Insolvency Service have a rule specific to this at this time. Technically, it's an asset of yours right now and, either way, if you re-gamble and come away with more you're left in the same situation.

One thing to note is that little or none of this money would go to your creditors if the OR did claim it. The kind of money you're talking about would almost certainly be swallowed by the OR for their administration costs, because they pay themselves first. Question - should the OR, as a public body, profit from gambling?!

But it may not be cash!

If the money is sitting online, I assume you have the (illegal and immoral) option to withdraw after discharge. Will the OR find out? Realistically, of course not. But they technically do have the power to investigate if they suspect wrongdoing because you signed that data protection waiver...

LiloMan wrote: »

Can I ask, what happens if an ante-post football bet, for example, was placed as an undischarged bankrupt but any potential winnings would be paid out after discharge?

That would be a right of action for the OR to claim as the OR 'stands in the shoes' of the bankrupt. Even after discharge, any rights to lay / make claims that belonged to the bankrupt prior and during bankruptcy belong to the OR.

DD