Heading for Bankrupsy - Help????

lee236

Where do I start? - I am a mum of three who is recently divorced. My husband left us 16 months ago in severe financial debt (all in my maiden name as he couldn't obtain credit) and the moment he left he payed nothing towards anything including the mortgage. Subsequently, our house was repossessed and I now live in rented accommodation.

During that saga I worked full time in a fairly well payed job solely supporting our children with an average monthly household outgoings of £1600. This figure does not include when my children need for anything new and there is very little to survive on after the bills have been paid. I have not been able to pay the debts outstanding (in the region of £28k) and have near enough avoided anything until January when the letters started arriving demanding money. I have borrowed nearly 15k from friends and family over the last 13 months for bond, rent, childcare fees, furniture etc and could not have survived so far without their support.

Unfortunately, on top of all this my contract of employment has recently been terminated under a compromise agreement due to treatment that I received and I received a total of £20000.

I cannot sleep at night for fear of what letter will land on the mat tomorrow, who will come to the door demanding money, what my children need from me and how the hell I will survive and avoid being homeless??

I am now in a position where I am finding employment increasingly difficult in the current climate, I am not entitled to unemployment benefit and I have to repay my friends and family members one of which has just lost his own job.


What do I do?? If I go bankrupt will the money be swallowed by the creditor and what on earth do I live off and how do I support my children??

Can anyone advise on how this may be viewed and what happens???

Many Thanks!

rog2

First of all, don't get yourself in too much of a worry. You need to have a chat with one of the Debt Counselling Charities such as:

• CCCS - www.cccs.co.uk - tel. 0800 138 1111
• National Debtline - www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/ - tel. 0808 808 4000
• A Debt Advisor at your local CAB

There are many ways of dealing with debt - bankruptcy is one way, but may not be the only one - the Debt Charities will give you impartial, professional and free advice on what is the best solution for you.

If they reccomend bankruptcy, you really don't need to worry. The Official Receiver is NOT going to leave you without sufficient income to live, and once you have been declared bankrupt your 'debts' will no longer be your problem. There are many, on this site, for whom bankruptcy has been the only viable way to deal with their debts - why not click on to the 'Bankruptcy and Living With it' board (just click on the link at the top of the page) and you will see that there are many others who are in, or have been in, a similar situation to yourself.

But, please, talk to one of the debt charities and be guided by what they reccomend. Whatever solution you choose, you will find lots of support and advice here.

GeorgeUK

I would also try to put together a statement of affairs detailing your income and expenditure. There may be some areas you can make savings in.

http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

I agree with Rog. Ask for advice from the free advisors above. They will be able to talk you through everything step by step. We'll be glad to act as a sounding board for you and will give as much support as we can.