Ask a CCCS counsellor a bankruptcy question

CCCS_Sue

tombooth wrote: »

Hi,

Last year my partner and I were both forced to file for bankruptcy. My partner has now been discharged and I have been told I have been marked for early discharge but am in a waiting list (typical...).

My mother has been left a property after my grandfathers death and wants to give me a significant amount of money after the sale of this property. This will be in the region of £7,500.

I would like to know if receiving this money will be problematic as I am still an undischarged bankrupt? Would the Insolvency Service want a portion of this or would I be allowed to keep the money?

Thanks

Hi tombooth and thank you for your message

Before you are discharged from bankruptcy then the OR/Trustee can usually claim any sums of money you receive to pay the debts and fees of the bankruptcy.
If you receive it after you are discharged then usually they can't.

Regards
Sue

evenstar2009

Does anyone know about, or been through the process of transferring the interest in your BR property over to a relative? I sent the form back to the OR saying that i do want to do this but have heard nothing back and i know that they will want over £200 for the legal fees so could really do with a heads up on when i'll have to pay this

(Why is it that going BR in this country actually costs lots of money! Not only is there the £600+ you have to cough up to go BR, there's another little charge waiting to rear its ugly head! Rant over :0) )

keenlearner

It has been confirmed by my work that they are moving location.

I am just not sure what would be the best to do I have tried looking for other work but there is nothing available at the moment and if there was I would still be looking at losing 1/3 to 1/2 my salary.

My question is if I get redundancy (only been here 2 years so would not be much) would I be better to go BR/DRO/IVA.

I am concerned as I know they expect you to sell assets and wonder where they draw the line as we have a computer, but we use this to look for work (I work in IT) and the kids use it for homework, we have an expensive table (couple years old now) but would you be expect to sell it and get a cheaper one?

Also I have noticed from some of the threads on this forum that if you return to work before you are discharged you get a zero tax code to repay and am not sure on the salary we are not looking at that we could afford to do that.

kitkat123

Hi, I am currently saving up for my bankruptcy fee and I have had a statutory demand from one of my creditors giving me until mid October to pay it off or they will request that I am made bankrupt. If I have not managed to save up enough for the fee before this what is the main diffference between them requesting bankruptcy and me doing it?
thanks for your help L

kitkat123

Hi I get DLA and incapacity benefit. If I include my DLA in calculations I have over £50 a month left after household expenses, if I don't then I have less than £50 left. So basically the quesation is is DLA included in calculations for a DRO as this will obviously effect whether I go for DRO or bankruptcy.
Thanks for your help. L

StepChange_Pavan

evenstar2009 wrote: »

Does anyone know about, or been through the process of transferring the interest in your BR property over to a relative? I sent the form back to the OR saying that i do want to do this but have heard nothing back and i know that they will want over £200 for the legal fees so could really do with a heads up on when i'll have to pay this

(Why is it that going BR in this country actually costs lots of money! Not only is there the £600+ you have to cough up to go BR, there's another little charge waiting to rear its ugly head! Rant over :0) )

Hi evenstar2009 and thank you for your message.

I have attached link to a leaflet which may help: http://www.insolvency.gov.uk/pdfs/guidanceleafletspdf/home.pdf

However, each case will be looked at individually and so the amount of time it takes can vary. I recommend that you contact your Official Receiver and ask them how long it is likely to take and when you will have to pay the legal fees.

Kind regards
Pavan

StepChange_Pavan

keenlearner wrote: »

It has been confirmed by my work that they are moving location.

I am just not sure what would be the best to do I have tried looking for other work but there is nothing available at the moment and if there was I would still be looking at losing 1/3 to 1/2 my salary.

My question is if I get redundancy (only been here 2 years so would not be much) would I be better to go BR/DRO/IVA.

I am concerned as I know they expect you to sell assets and wonder where they draw the line as we have a computer, but we use this to look for work (I work in IT) and the kids use it for homework, we have an expensive table (couple years old now) but would you be expect to sell it and get a cheaper one?

Also I have noticed from some of the threads on this forum that if you return to work before you are discharged you get a zero tax code to repay and am not sure on the salary we are not looking at that we could afford to do that.

Hi keenlearner and thank you for your message.

Without looking at the details of your situation, it is difficult to say which option would be best for your or indeed if there are other options available to you.

Your assets would be taken into consideration if you were considering bankruptcy as an option. There are no hard and fast rules and the Official Receiver will look at each case individually. However, it is unlikely they would take your computer if it required for your work, and the table would normally only be taken if it was a valuable antique.

With regards to the zero tax code – it would mean that you don’t pay any tax rather than paying more.

I recommend that you contact us for advice on your situation as it may be that you are looking at bankruptcy when there might be more appropriate solutions for you. You can either use our online debt advice facility called Debt Remedy http://www.cccs.co.uk/ref/drcu or call 0800 138 1111 to speak to a trained debt counsellor. Lines are open Monday to Friday 08:00-20:00.

Hope this helps.

Kind regards,
Pavan

StepChange_Pavan

kitkat123 wrote: »

Hi I get DLA and incapacity benefit. If I include my DLA in calculations I have over £50 a month left after household expenses, if I don't then I have less than £50 left. So basically the quesation is is DLA included in calculations for a DRO as this will obviously effect whether I go for DRO or bankruptcy.
Thanks for your help. L

Hi Kitkat123 and thank you for your messages.

I have responded to both of your questions below:

Firstly, the only difference is that if they make you bankrupt, they will pay your fee. This happens very rarely unless you have a lot of assets that the creditors know about. In your case, I would recommend that you continue to save for your fee in case they are just using it as a collection tactic to try and get more money from you. If they do make you bankrupt before you have saved enough money, then you will not have to pay the fee.

Secondly, you must include your DLA and Incapacity benefit as income for both bankruptcy and DROs. However, this extra money is usually used for expenses that relate to your disability. I recommend that you call our free helpline to discuss your budget in more detail to determine what your best option will be. You can call free on 0800 138 1111 and lines are open Monday to Friday 08:00-20:00.

Hope this helps.

Kind regards
Pavan

sunshune

I posted this elsewhere but thought I would try here.

I have just found out that my sister and husband are in an awful lot of debt, she confessed all this morning. She doesn't know what to do and can't stop crying.

Here is the short version

They live in a mortgaged property (interest only)
My brother in law works and she is a SAHM trying to get back into her field but can't. During the time she has been a SAHM they have accumulated a lot of debt £33794 as she can't get back into her field and have had to live off credit cards.

I have tried to do a SOA for her but I am not sure if it is done correctly basically, they have £1829 coming in a month and £1350 going out before he pays the debts. THey did have £2001 going out but they are going to get rid of the nursery fees which were £650.

I got her to call CCCS the information they gave her was based on their outgoings of £2001 but now that has changed. They have advised that they should offer token payments of a £1 to all of her creditors until she gets a job or they can make cut backs such as their phone or sky. I thought they would offer her an IVA but there is no surplus cash available. Her husband just thinks the token payments are a waste of time as they are not dealing with the debt but if they do not do something they will just accuulate more.

She was worried because CCCS suggested if she does this (in fact they strongly advised she does) the creditors can request a charging order against her home. Is this true?

She also called Pay plan who too all her details and said that the best bet would be to offer reduced payments to the creditors and freeze interest and review the situation in 2 months.

Oh and BR is not an option as it is in y bro-in-laws contract that as a council worker he can't be BR.

If they then have a surplus of at least £200 do you think they could get an IVA or will they have to go BR? I did suggest they go to our mums to get back on their feet, would they still be able to go for an IVA then?

Also, sorry, my sister has money in premium bonds that our mum bought for her years ago and she wants to know whether they are safe. SHe left it there for their daughter.

My bro in law doesn't want my sisters credit affected as it is his debt is there any way this can be done.

THanks in advance

CCCS_Sue

sunshune wrote: »

I posted this elsewhere but thought I would try here.

I have just found out that my sister and husband are in an awful lot of debt, she confessed all this morning. She doesn't know what to do and can't stop crying.

Here is the short version

They live in a mortgaged property (interest only)
My brother in law works and she is a SAHM trying to get back into her field but can't. During the time she has been a SAHM they have accumulated a lot of debt £33794 as she can't get back into her field and have had to live off credit cards.

I have tried to do a SOA for her but I am not sure if it is done correctly basically, they have £1829 coming in a month and £1350 going out before he pays the debts. THey did have £2001 going out but they are going to get rid of the nursery fees which were £650.

I got her to call CCCS the information they gave her was based on their outgoings of £2001 but now that has changed. They have advised that they should offer token payments of a £1 to all of her creditors until she gets a job or they can make cut backs such as their phone or sky. I thought they would offer her an IVA but there is no surplus cash available. Her husband just thinks the token payments are a waste of time as they are not dealing with the debt but if they do not do something they will just accuulate more.

She was worried because CCCS suggested if she does this (in fact they strongly advised she does) the creditors can request a charging order against her home. Is this true?

She also called Pay plan who too all her details and said that the best bet would be to offer reduced payments to the creditors and freeze interest and review the situation in 2 months.

Oh and BR is not an option as it is in y bro-in-laws contract that as a council worker he can't be BR.

If they then have a surplus of at least £200 do you think they could get an IVA or will they have to go BR? I did suggest they go to our mums to get back on their feet, would they still be able to go for an IVA then?

Also, sorry, my sister has money in premium bonds that our mum bought for her years ago and she wants to know whether they are safe. SHe left it there for their daughter.

My bro in law doesn't want my sisters credit affected as it is his debt is there any way this can be done.

THanks in advance

Hi sunshune and thank you for your message

Your sister would only be affected if there were any debts in joint names


If their circumstances have changed and they have less going out now that the nursery fees have gone, then they could look at other options.
I would recommend that your sister calls for an appointment to review their situation.

The creditors could look at a charging order.

I have attached a link to our website which explains more about charging orders:

http://www.cccs.co.uk/InfoCentre/EnglandandWales/Creditoraction/Courtaction/Chargingorder.aspx


Regards
Sue