Filing for Bankruptcy

meehank

Hi, does anyone have any experience of filing for personal bankruptcy in the UK, while living overseas? I moved to Austria with my kids to make a fresh start following a divorce, but I have not been able to tackle the UK debt properly. C.A.B. debt advisors sat on my file for 6 months, then basically said that I should try filing for bankruptcy, but they had no info about the consequences for me here in Austria. The UK Insolvency Service can obviously only provide advice for UK residents, so who can help?

TallGirl

As far as I know you can only file for bankruptcy in your nearest local County Court or the one you last lived at. If I were you I would call the court nearest to where you last lived in the UK and ask if you could file for bankruptcy there. The local Official Receivers Office is also quite helpfull and I am sure the court would have the phone number. Check if you have to attend court in person and be prepared for a visit to the UK to sort it all out. If want to know more about how to petition look on https://www.adviceguide.org.uk
Best of luck,

meehank

Thanks - the Insolvency Service advised me that as an overseas resident I would need to go to the Royal Courts of Justice in London - I can also send a solicitor or give a family member power of attorney. To be honest, the big question for me, before I take this huge step, is not how to go about it, but what will the consequences be for my daily life in Austria? There are no assets here, and there is no spare cash, as the maintenance payments from my ex-husband dried up just 3 months after the divorce decree absolut. As a EU member country, there is a high level of transparency in most financial dealings and I expect they would have access to my Austrian financial files, but financial experts here have not been able to advise me, as the debt in question is in the UK.

TallGirl

I only know how bankruptcy affects people in the UK and to be honest it is not lot. If there is no assests and your income only just cover your expenses the OR is not interested in you after you have gone bankrupt unless you win the lottery or inherit money. In this country bankruptcy can affect your job so you should check with your current employer if that is the case in Austria. I cannot see it affecting your day to day life in Austria unless you are planning to take out a mortgage, loans and build up a lot of credit where you live now.

Once you are discharged from Bankruptcy (6 months to 1 year) it will affect you even less if you lived in this country so I cannot see why that should not be the same for you.

Hope this helps