Told my son

Feelingfoolish_3

Hi

Decided to tell my son today that I am going bankrupt. He is 15.

I started off by asking him if he had heard of the word bankruptcy and if so did he know what it meant. He had heard of it but wasnt so sure, he thought it was when you didn't have enough money to pay your bills and that you might lose your stuff to the council - god bless him.

I explained very basically that it was when you did have enough money to pay the bills (gas, elec etc) but not enough money to pay your loans and credit cards. I also said that the only things the court not council was interested in was if you had a house or a car.

I then said that this was something that I was going to do this week but that our house should be safe but I couldnt promise however if we couldnt keep the house we could move into a relatives house (who is renting this out) and that it wasnt very far away and that I might not keep the car cos its worth £2k and they might need to sell it.

But I said that under no circumstances was he to worry, it isnt his fault and that I can pay the bills just not the debts and that they will be gone.

He was so good, he said would they come and take anything out of the house - he is thinking XBox, Telly etc I laughed and said no they take nothing out of the house. And then he said that probably lots of his mates parents might be doing this cos its happening all over at the moment isnt it. I could have kissed him except he wouldnt find that very funny!

So, need to keep an eye on him, made him promise to ask me any questions he might come up with.

Thanks for listening

x

philnicandamy

well done you...sounds like a supportive bright lad!

get_me_out

Well done for telling him,:T I told my eldest when I filed last year. Like your son was very matter of fact about it. I'm lucky in one sense that we are in housing association so the house was not an issue.

Your lucky to have a understanding son. Hopefully he will learn from this and not want any debt like my daughter says she won't. But my daughter wants to be a teacher so sadly will have some student debts. But at least with mine cleared, in 2 years time when it's time for Uni I should be able to help her out a little.

I_know_my_ABC_and_my_CMYK

Don't know a great deal about bankruptcy but is the x box not classed as a luxury item? Or is it that it belongs to the son that they wont take it? I do know they will leave tools of the trade and stuff that belongs to minors?

Just wondering how this would work as Ive read posts on here before this board was made saying that the came to the house and counted spoons out of the cutlery drawer etc.

OP brave step telling your son, good luck with it.

philnicandamy

I_know_my_ABC_and_my_CMYK wrote: »

Don't know a great deal about bankruptcy but is the x box not classed as a luxury item? Or is it that it belongs to the son that they wont take it? I do know they will leave tools of the trade and stuff that belongs to minors?

Just wondering how this would work as Ive read posts on here before this board was made saying that the came to the house and counted spoons out of the cutlery drawer etc.

OP brave step telling your son, good luck with it.

The receiver once bankrupt is only interested in goods that could fetch AT LEAST a £1000 at auction....so x-box etc would not be touched...cars however are a whole different matter :rolleyes::rolleyes:

"luxury" items would be 50" plasma TV's old art collections...sports cars hidden away...and rest assured during bankruptcy nobody will come to your house to look for assets....they've just enough time & staff to deal with what they can

Feelingfoolish_3

philnicandamy wrote: »

The receiver once bankrupt is only interested in goods that could fetch AT LEAST a £1000 at auction....so x-box etc would not be touched...cars however are a whole different matter :rolleyes::rolleyes:

"luxury" items would be 50" plasma TV's old art collections...sports cars hidden away...and rest assured during bankruptcy nobody will come to your house to look for assets....they've just enough time & staff to deal with what they can

"luxury" items would be 50" plasma TV's old art collections...sports cars hidden away I wish :rotfl:

LeeSouthEast

That must have been the second most difficult thing you've ever done.

Bright lad. Congrats.

Maybeelady

Well done Feeling Foolish! My parents business went bankrupt when we were kids and they never explained what it was all about - it definitely would have been better to have known. Now in a weird role reversal where I've had to tell them I'm filing for BR!

fiveyearplan

Feelingfoolish wrote: »

Hi

Decided to tell my son today that I am going bankrupt. He is 15.

I started off by asking him if he had heard of the word bankruptcy and if so did he know what it meant. He had heard of it but wasnt so sure, he thought it was when you didn't have enough money to pay your bills and that you might lose your stuff to the council - god bless him. A lot of people probably think that too.

I could have kissed him except he wouldnt find that very funny! I know exactly what you mean!!!

x

Good luck with it all. I'm sure you feel better for telling him.

Feelingfoolish_3

Thanks for all your lovely words and yes I do feel a lot lighter, will be floating on Wednesday! Been trying all week to find the words, so stuck the bbq on, fed him a couple of burgers and talked with him.
Thanks again

fiveyearplan

Nice day for BBQ.