Facing sequestration and terrified!

smokey112

Hi Lynne
BR is a clean slate and you will feel relieved - keep positive

sorry I couldn't be any more help

One thing I would say is that after BR all your CT debt will be wiped out
up to date of BR you will then be charged for the remaining balance of this year

Ang
xx

eklynne

Hi Ang,
one of the benefits of being a skint student is that I am now council tax exempt! Oh the irony! These debts are over 2 years old now.
Thanks for all the positivity, it truly has helped!
L
x

coolcait

Hiya eklynne

I can see from other posts you have made that you are fairly resigned to going bankrupt. But have you actually had a chance to take any advice about this, and what your options are?

Maybe sequestration is the best thing for you - and getting advice from one of the agencies which provide it free of charge might confirm your decison to go down that route.

But it seems like such a shame that you are risking losing your home for a relatively small debt, when there might be something else you could do. Because if you are sequestrated, your trustee will go after the £40,000 equity in your home. Sadly. The reason for that is that - apart from your debts - the costs of the sequestration will have to covered. If the trustee is a private sector IP, those costs will generally be higher than they would be if the Accountant in Bankruptcy is appointed trustee.

If you haven't already taken advice from your local CAB, Welfare Rights or local authority money advice team, or the Scottish branch of one of the debt advice charities, it might be worth a call at least?

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

eklynne

Hi Cait,
I was at the CAB yesterday and had a long talk with the debtline scotland people who were lovely. It will be the Accountant in Bankruptcy who will be appointed trustee and I am led to believe that this will keep costs to a minimum. My case is quite unique in that I own the home with my ex, who has done a disappearing act (!) so we are jointly and severally responsible for the council tax debt, regardless of whether he makes an appearance or not.
I have had a few wake up calls in the past week or two and as I have been struggling to keep up with mortgage repayments on a home that doesn't essentially belong to me alone, I have decided to give it up and start the long haul of looking for somewhere new. It will be a clean slate for me and my daughter and who knows, with all this extra sleep I hope to get, I may even achieve a better degree! Every cloud and all that.....
I am just trying to keep focused that in a year's time my life will be better than it is now.
Next hurdle - having a long sit down talk with my teenager, this will probably be worse than a day in court!!!
Thanks for the advice, it's all keeping me strong!
L
x

coolcait

eklynne wrote: »

Hi Cait,
I was at the CAB yesterday and had a long talk with the debtline scotland people who were lovely. It will be the Accountant in Bankruptcy who will be appointed trustee and I am led to believe that this will keep costs to a minimum. My case is quite unique in that I own the home with my ex, who has done a disappearing act (!) so we are jointly and severally responsible for the council tax debt, regardless of whether he makes an appearance or not.
I have had a few wake up calls in the past week or two and as I have been struggling to keep up with mortgage repayments on a home that doesn't essentially belong to me alone, I have decided to give it up and start the long haul of looking for somewhere new. It will be a clean slate for me and my daughter and who knows, with all this extra sleep I hope to get, I may even achieve a better degree! Every cloud and all that.....
I am just trying to keep focused that in a year's time my life will be better than it is now.
Next hurdle - having a long sit down talk with my teenager, this will probably be worse than a day in court!!!
Thanks for the advice, it's all keeping me strong!
L
x

Hiya eklynne

Great news that you've taken advice! :T And if you've been struggling with the mortgage payments for a while, sequestration could well be - like you say - a chance for a clean slate for you.

Good news too that the Accountant in Bankruptcy will be your trustee, as that does usually keep the costs down a bit. They might put your case out to an agent to manage on their behalf - but even so, the costs are still likely to be a good bit less than if it was with a private trustee.

There's one wee thing in your post which might be worthwhile running past CAB for their thoughts on it. You say that your ex is joint owner of your home (as in his name is on the title?).

If so, I don't think your trustee can sell your home without the joint owner's agreement. If you don't know where he is, and they can't find him, how will they get that agreement?

It seems to me that it could be possible for you to be completely cooperative with the trustee, but for them to still end up not being able legally sell your home. Like I said - run it past CAB or debtline Scotland and see what they think. I could be completely wrong

Good luck with it all anyway - especially for Monday.

eklynne

So, as of 10am this morning I am officially bankrupt.
The CAB informed me that unless I was contesting the action (which I wasn't) then it was not necessary for me to attend the court proceedings this morning.
Oh well, feel a bit numb about it all at the moment, just hanging about waiting on a phone call/knock at the door.
So, thank you to everyone who offered advice and support. This forum is a true lifeline.
Onwards and upwards! :j

smokey112

Congratulations Eklynne

You will feel so much better now that
it is all over with

Take care
Ang
xx

eklynne

Thanks Ang, feeling much better than I did this time last week that's for sure!
Back at Uni tomorrow, just going to let all of this wash over me and get on with my studies.

lyns1234123

hi, i live with my parents and my dad is in the middle of sequestration in scotland as well. he is about 6 months further down the line. all that happened in court for him was that it was handed over to an accountant. he recieved a letter from them about 2 weeks later with forms for him to fill out all about income and outgoings and assests. it also included an appointment that he had to keep. he came back ok. they were proffesional and polite. there is no immediate hurry nothing happens over night. we are still in the house and no atempt as yet to take it. i went to see several lawyers and all they said was to go onto a council waiting list.

eklynne

hi lyns,
thanks for that. I think I'm going to be having butterflies for a while yet but the initial terror has subsided. I was only sequestrated on Monday, so even if I got to the summer holidays (I'm at Uni) before getting turfed out I'll be happy. Good luck to you and your family, I know what a stressful time it is for everyone.