Ask a StepChange (formerly CCCS) counsellor a bankruptcy question

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  • System
    System Posts: 178,077
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    gibboking wrote: »
    Hi Guy's

    My Hubby (soon to be ex) and I have been seperated for more than 2 years now and I am filing for divorce.
    Originally I moved out of the house and rented (quickest way for me to get out!!) but recently he soon realised that he could'nt afford a 3 bedroom house on his own so me and the kids moved back in. He has agreed that he will keep his name on the mortgage but does'nt expect anything from it when it is of any value.

    Since I have moved back in he has decided that his only option is to go bankrupt.

    So the house is in negative equity of around 12k
    We have joint debts totalling around 12k
    and he has debts in just his name of around 14k

    So my questions are:
    Am I likely to loose the house?
    Will joint debt become my responsibilty.
    Should we sort divorce before he goes bankrupt?

    Things are reasonably amicable between us, and he does'nt want me and the kids to end up loosing our home.

    Any advice is really appreciated

    Hi and thanks for your comment.

    The Official Receiver would only be interested in the property if it had any equity. At the moment you’d more than likely to be able to stay in the property although the OR would keep an interest in the house for 2 years and 3 months to see if any equity became available.

    You would become liable for the joint debts and it would be wise to put together an accurate income and expenditure budget to make sure you could cover these along with your other bills.

    Has your partner taken any advice on his bankruptcy? We’d be happy to speak to both you to support you through this. We could also look at your situation on your own and see what the best advice is.

    We have a blogpost around this subject that might be useful.
    http://moneyaware.co.uk/2011/09/we-got-a-joint-loan-now-weve-split-who-has-to-pay/

    Please get in touch if you need more help.

    Kind regards,

    Mat
  • System
    System Posts: 178,077
    Photogenic Name Dropper First Post
    Community Admin
    Hi Guys

    Hope you can advise.

    I took out an ill fated NR Together mortgage in 2006 ish when I was very young and very naive. I owe 105,000 on a house that I don't live in and have been renting out I(not agreed by NRAM). I had to move as the house was only 1 bed, and I fell pregnant so took the opportunity to rent a lovely 3 bed house for about £100 less than the 1 bed mortgage!

    Tenants are out now, and I have realised that i do not have anywhere near enough money to be a landlord, its not agreed anyway so it would technically be mortgage fraud maybe? So I'm thinking to sell the house.

    It's been valued at £70,000 - £75,000 and I have someone poss interested. However then I would owe approx £35,000. I also have credit cards totalling £4000 and an overdraft of £2000.

    So as you can see I'm in a big mess. I have a steady secure job (more secure than most but I don't want to reveal the exact nature). I earn about £28,000 but am due to go on mat leave for a year so will earn about half of that roughly for the next year or so. I don't know if I'll be able to go back full time as childcare might make it to be no point, and it's not best for the children. I will always work part time though - I don't want to give up work.

    What are my options? Is bankrupcy the best possibility do you think? I can't see how I can pay it back, and I just have to face facts that a astronomically stupid decision when I was much less financially savvy in my early twenties has possibly ruined my entire life (financially at least!).

    Hope you can help, many thanks for reading x x

    Hi and thanks for your post.

    It sounds like you would benefit from some free and impartial advice.

    Bankruptcy could be one option, although there could be other alternatives depending on your overall situation.

    I’d recommend you gather details of your income and expenditure and give us a call to discuss the situation.

    Our free Helpline is on 0800 138 1111. We’re open Monday to Friday 8am - 8pm and Saturday 9am until 3.00pm.

    If you phone us it may be possible to refer you directly to an advisor for immediate advice. Alternatively, we will arrange for an appointment to be booked at a time convenient for you.

    You’ve taken the first step to sorting out your money worries and we can support you with free and impartial advice along the way.

    I hope this helps.

    Kind regards,

    Mat
  • System
    System Posts: 178,077
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    Community Admin
    Hello,I'm petitioning for BR later this month.
    I'm bit concerned about my work pensions, hope you could advice.
    I have an old work pension which is now been transferred to friends provident as my old work didn't want to carry it.
    I'm working and I pay into a works pension .
    My concern is will either be seen as an asset.
    I don't own my own home, drive or have any jewellery.
    I only have those.
    My old work one is worth 69k.
    I'm early 50 and will hopefully work for the next 15 years .
    Thank you in advance

    Hi and thanks for your post.

    It sounds like you would benefit from some free and impartial advice.

    It would depend on your exact age and the age at which you could realise the pensions.

    It would be worth checking the small print of the policies to see when you could realise the asset, if this could be done at 55 it may be an issue depending on your exact age. If you can’t draw either pension until 65+ it shouldn’t be too much of an issue.

    It might be worth speaking to the pension providers to get the details and I’d also recommend you give us a call and ask for some specific bankruptcy advice. We can talk you through the whole process free of charge (the judge will want to make sure you’ve taken full advice).

    I hope this helps.

    Kind regards,

    Mat
  • System
    System Posts: 178,077
    Photogenic Name Dropper First Post
    Community Admin
    hi firstly thanks for any information you can give me in advance ,ok quick potted history marriage collapsed 06/2009 and wife left property and outstanding loans bills etc etc at my feet(to the tune of roughly £30,000,and then there was the house ,which is another story ,but enough to say that i no longer reside there ) and well it wasnt pretty but contacted cccs and spoke at length and was decided that an iva was the logical way forward ,and at the time my (now ex)wife and i had an agreement about child support ,but after a particularly nasty divorce and custody battle i was approached by the c.s.a. and that wiped out my ability to pay my iva and obviously left me open to my creditors after just over a year on a successful iva,anyway fast forward to now ,i have had to leave my rented property and move in with a friend ,and have been struggling to pay my keep,storage for general household items(of no large value ,furniture etc )and money for when i have my daughter which is every weekend ,however things being what they are and no payraises for the last 3 years etc i have been and are struggling to raise the cost of going bankrupt ,is there a specific timeframe in which i have to go bankrupt and when i eventually get my b/r fund sorted ,the information i supply to the b/r court does it all have to be current ,as to ammounts etc ,as i only have the info that i originally had as 0f 06/2012 as i dont want to contact my creditors as they only way they will reply is by post and do not want to involve my friends property in my problems ,as i said at the start any enlightenment you could give me would be hugely appreciated ,

    cheers :-)

    Hi and thanks for your post.

    When filling in the bankruptcy forms it’s fine to work to estimates or even put ‘not sure’ when it comes to creditor balances. You could also work off the creditor balances in your IVA proposal if you still have it

    I’d recommend in this case that you call our free helpline. We can access your credit report that should provide some up to date information to work from.

    We have a dedicated bankruptcy team that can talk you through the whole process, this can include looking into trust funds to see if we can help reduce the bankruptcy fee.

    Please gather as much detail as you can and call our free Helpline on 0800 138 1111. We’re open Monday to Friday 8am - 8pm and Saturday 9am until 3.00pm.

    If you phone us it may be possible to refer you directly to an advisor for immediate advice. Alternatively, we will arrange for an appointment to be booked at a time convenient for you.

    I hope this helps.

    Kind regards,

    Mat
  • Hi
    My wife built up debts of £10,000 on store cards/credit cards ect over the last 10 years.yesterday she went to a bankruptcy hearing where she was told to pay the debt within 4 weeks or sell our house even though her name isnt on the mortgage.can they do this
  • lynn2302
    lynn2302 Posts: 464
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    Hi,

    Just wondered if you could clear something up for me, my son in law has been in touch with stepchange about his debts and an IVA was suggested, he was passed to someone to deal with it and was charged a £35 fee over the phone.

    They said this was an admin fee for somebody, but on your website it says there are no upfront charges at all, so I cant understand this. Could you please let me know if he should have paid this.

    Thanks
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  • System
    System Posts: 178,077
    Photogenic Name Dropper First Post
    Community Admin
    pdt2012 wrote: »
    Hi
    My wife built up debts of £10,000 on store cards/credit cards ect over the last 10 years.yesterday she went to a bankruptcy hearing where she was told to pay the debt within 4 weeks or sell our house even though her name isnt on the mortgage.can they do this

    Hi and thanks for your post.

    It sounds like your wife would benefit from some free and impartial advice.

    I’d recommend she gives our helpline a call; we do have a specialist bankruptcy team that generally give advice prior to petitioning. We should be able to give you some more details once we know what her situation is. You can listen into the call with her permission.

    I’d recommend that she gather details of her income, expenditure and debts and call 0800 138 1111. We’re open Monday to Friday 8am - 8pm and Saturday 9am until 3.00pm.
    If she phones us it may be possible to refer her directly to a counsellor for immediate advice. Alternatively, we will arrange for an appointment to be booked at a time convenient for her.

    I hope this helps.

    Kind regards,

    Mat
  • System
    System Posts: 178,077
    Photogenic Name Dropper First Post
    Community Admin
    lynn2302 wrote: »
    Hi,

    Just wondered if you could clear something up for me, my son in law has been in touch with stepchange about his debts and an IVA was suggested, he was passed to someone to deal with it and was charged a £35 fee over the phone.

    They said this was an admin fee for somebody, but on your website it says there are no upfront charges at all, so I cant understand this. Could you please let me know if he should have paid this.

    Thanks

    Hi and thanks for your question,

    It sounds like there has been some confusion and I think it’s possible your son in law has chosen another IVA provider.

    We don’t charge any upfront fees for IVAs under any circumstances. We sometime refer to a third party provider for self-employed IVAs but these partners also do not charge any upfront fees.

    He can get in touch with us directly on 0800 138 1111 to clarify this if he wishes.

    I hope this helps.

    Kind regards,

    Mat
  • many thanks mat will be in touch
  • My friend just spoke to a StepChange counsellor about my debts.

    They recommend bankruptcy for him and that his wife's property which is owned by her and mortgage solely in her name would not be affected by my going bankrupt.

    I thought that as they are married that her assets would also be affected?

    Can you shed any light?

    Thanks
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