Disposable income / IPA Joint?

tillboy

Quick question re: surplus income, if me and my wife are jointly bankrupt my wife doesn't work but received tax credits and child benefit will my IPA exclude those payments?

Hope that makes some kind of sense

dottydora

I'm not sure if everyone will agree with me but my take on it is: you have two separate BR's. You put your income on yours and her benefits and tax credits on hers. On my forms I split the expenditure pro rata between my husband and I. Basically because we've always done things joint it was complicated to work out but if we then added the two incomes and two lots of expenditure back up again it tied in with if we'd done a joint application. I'm guessing that wont make a bit of sense! Sorry. J.

tillboy

julieamorris wrote: »

I'm not sure if everyone will agree with me but my take on it is: you have two separate BR's. You put your income on yours and her benefits and tax credits on hers. On my forms I split the expenditure pro rata between my husband and I. Basically because we've always done things joint it was complicated to work out but if we then added the two incomes and two lots of expenditure back up again it tied in with if we'd done a joint application. I'm guessing that wont make a bit of sense! Sorry. J.

No, kinda makes sense (as much as the question did )

What I was really wondering (and now my head hurts)

1. We're separately bankrupt and around 75% of the debt is in my sole name
2. She does not work, nor will she until she completes her NVQ, and then if she has no IPA will not get a job until discharged, if I'm in an IPA will her earnings be considered?
3. With regard to the mortgage is it now seen as a 1250 monthly commitment just to me or as we are jointly liable only half attributable to me.

Hopefully there are some questions there rather than the ramblings of a madman ...

dottydora

Oh, too complicated for me now, I'll leave it to the experts - Good luck. J.

tillboy

julieamorris wrote: »

Oh, too complicated for me now, I'll leave it to the experts - Good luck. J.

Thanks, my heads hurting now from all the stuff spinning around, just trying to work out all the angles

LilyBart

In theory, they should treat your bankrupcty and your wife's bankruptcy separately. You each put down expenses in whole (ie mortage of £1200pcm, housekeeping of £300 or whatever), and put down the other's *contribution* to those expenses, as opposed to the entire sum of the other's income. It should work out just as fairly as doing everything pro rata, though it did my head in when I was doing mine and Billy's. Also, I seem to remember that Rosey had some problems when his wife's income went up, pushing his IPA up by rather more than Mrs Rosey's income had increased. Last time I checked, he was arguing this with the OR, but things may have progressed since then. Anyway, child benefit cannot be considered in the calculations for an IPA.

tillboy

LilyBart wrote: »

Anyway, child benefit cannot be considered in the calculations for an IPA.

Didn't know that :T

LilyBart

You still have to list it, it's just that they're not supposed to include it in their calculations. If you end up with an IPA that looks wrong, it's the first thing to check.

tillboy

Thats good to know the 80 odd quid child benefit could stop me tipping over into a £500 surplus

LilyBart

Now that I think of it - 9 months into BR! - I can see the logic of doing it their way. The household expenses remain more or less fixed, it's the income of one or the other householder that is prone to changing, through job loss or pay rise etc.

davetheman

What if the other half has very little income which varies and does not contribute