SOA Clarification

snubold

I was made b/r earlier this year and was out of work at the time, due to this i did not have an SOA to aquire my disposable income (there was none). I have this week started work on a 3 month contract and so will have to (i presume) now fill an SOA once i inform the OR.

I wanted to clarify whether i will have to include my wife's income on the SOA or whether it is just mine and outgoings split into 2? my take home will be about £850 after tax etc, hers about £1800.

I would also like to pay more toward rent and bills (i.e. a higher proportion of) whilst i am earning as she has supported me for 5 months or so with me only bringing in JSA, is there a way to include this?

thanks.

peachyprice

You will have to put her contribution towards the household bills on your SoA, not her whole salary. You put the joint household bills down in whole, not just your half, plus your own personal outgoings, i'e your travel, clothes, hair, dry cleaning etc., but not your OH's.

The OR will want to see that she is paying at least 50% towards the shared outgoings.

HTH

Anne2

Excuse me jumping in on your thread snubold! Peachyprice you said the OR will want to see that snubold's OH is paying at least 50% towards shared outgoings. My OH earns considerably less than me, and once he has paid his expenses and debts, the amount he has left to contribute to shared outgoings is most definitely not 50% of it. Is the OR going to have a problem with this???

THX!!!

debtinfo

Hi anne, because your case is the other way round ie your partner earns considerably less than you, the OR would expect him to pay less than 50% in proportion to your respective earnings. In your case it would be worth declaring his full income to show that you should be paying more of the joint expenses and so have less surplus left.

In snubolds case it would not be in his interests to declare his partners full income as she earns more than him. The OR can in this case ask him to pay a maximum of 50% of the joint outgoings if he does not want to declare his partners full wage

blind-as-a-bat_2

31.7.16 Income received from spouse/civil partner/partner

It is reasonable to expect that within the household of the bankrupt and his/her family, the income received by a working spouse/civil partner/partner (all referred to as "partner" for the remainder of this section) or a partner who receives income from other independent means, will be used to contribute to the household expenditure in some way, for example by purchasing food, clothing for him/herself and any children, etc. The bankrupt may genuinely not know his/her partner’s income and/or the partner may not be willing to disclose it to the official receiver as they are not personally subject to the proceedings. Legal advice has been received that it is not a proper use of section 366 [note 11] to have a partner privately examined for the purpose of obtaining details of his/her income to establish whether an IPO may be obtained or the level of that order and there is no reason why this should not extend to cover IPAs.

Where resistance to the disclosure of the partner's income is encountered, in the absence of any information to the contrary, it is appropriate for the official receiver to assume that the working partner pays for 50% of all household expenditure. This amount can then be incorporated into an IPA/IPO calculation to assist the official receiver's decision as to whether the bankrupt has sufficient surplus income against which an IPA/IPO can be obtained. It is likely that an assumption of this nature will provokea response from the bankrupt and/or their partner and if the required information is then forthcoming, the official receiver may re-calculate the income and expenditure of the bankrupt taking in to account the information provided with regard to the actual contribution of the partner, to establish whether the bankrupt has surplus income available for an IPA/IPO. Flexibility will be required in any re-assessment, especially where the partner works part-time.

As with state benefits which supplement earned income, whilst it is acceptable to include the income of the bankrupt's partner as part of the total income received in to the household of the bankrupt, it should be noted that an IPA/IPO claim can only be made against the surplus arising from the bankrupt's income.Any calculation of surplus income for the purpose of obtaining an IPA/IPO should work out the surplus available having assessed total income and total expenditure of the bankrupt and his/her household, then proportion the extent of any total surplus arising against the income contributed by the bankrupt. The Income Payments Calculator available on the Technical Section intranet site may assist in proportioning the bankrupt's share of any surplus when assessing an IPA/IPO.

Just for clarity, or not, it may help or confuse you further