Splitting up, Debts, Equity - Please help!!

I-Promise-To-Try

Hi all

First of all - this forum and all of you have been keeping me going over the last few weeks, so thank you so much

I am about to split up with my dh, and we are selling up (equity of approx £60k). I shall be moving into rented accomodation with our children and dh shall be moving in with his brother (rented flat).

I have lots of debts, all unsecured and in my name only, totalling approx £40k. I am self employed, but on a low income, and shall no longer be able to keep up the repayments, so plan to write to my creditors in the next week offering token payments.

Our children are the priority for us both, and we obviously want all the very best for their future, therefore, the proceeds from our house sale sale shall all be put into my husbands name. He then plans to maybe start re-developing properties, therefore becoming self-employed himself. I trust him with this 100% so absolutely no worries there

Soooo, I want to ask, if my creditors start sniffing around if they won't accept my offers to them - could they then get their hands on any of the money if it is all in my (estranged) dh's name?

And, a long way down the line, if I was forced to go bankrupt, what would be the implications then?

Many, many tia,
B
x

Emmzi

if property is in joint names, and you are due half the equity (on paper) they are entitled to 30k of it. they can get it through the courts, whether now, or if you go bankrupt in the next few years.

As they see it- you spent it, you got cash, we'll have it back thanks.

I tend to agree.

I-Promise-To-Try

Emmzi wrote:

if property is in joint names, and you are due half the equity (on paper) they are entitled to 30k of it. they can get it through the courts, whether now, or if you go bankrupt in the next few years.

As they see it- you spent it, you got cash, we'll have it back thanks.

I tend to agree.

Thanks for your reply. So can they get it through the courts (before bankruptcy) even if the house is sold and all of the money is in my estranged husbands account?

Emmzi

yes. if you 'gift' him your half it is called gratuitous alienation and they can demand it back. same goes if you gifted it to anyone else.

I-Promise-To-Try

Emmzi wrote:

yes. if you 'gift' him your half it is called gratuitous alienation and they can demand it back. same goes if you gifted it to anyone else.

Thank you

Addicted2Chocolate

aslo if you do go bankrupt and did not get your ahre of the sale proceed it woudl be considered a transaction at undervalue, and such acts are viewed as misconduct which the Official Receiver woudl investigate, it would be reported to the Court and the court could make you subject to a Bankruptcy Restriction Order for a period 2-15 years : this would mean you could not get credit etc for much longer and would be subject to all the bankruptcy restrictions for the period decided by the court. A Trustee would be appointed to go after your ex huasband via the courts if necessary to get the money back.

kickingkay

to be honest babe i would take the advice pay off what you owe try offering them a lower full and final settlement, you need to think of now your children are you number one priority no one is taking that away from you but this could be a really valuable lesson for them if you cna be honest with them about stuff (ie when they are old enough) then they will learn how tragic money lending can be im not judging you in any way im a mum of 3 i had saving trust funds etc for my babies but tehy need it now they too can work hard for it later on and appreciate it more when we are able to help out we will, but i still have enough yrs before my babies go to uni,
you are making a huge step forward wouldnt you rather doing it a complete fresh and starting over if i had your strength i would
take care
klare xx

wannabedebtfree_2

Having read this I am assuming they have put rules like that in place to stop people from 'claiming' they have seperated from their partner, going bankrupt and then reconciling with the estranged partner once that has gone through. Its very clever as I imagine theres many people that would go down that road if desperate enough!!

Maybe you should claim your 1/2 of the house sale, (I know your ex-h needs the money too) then you would only have debts of £10k which would make a MASSIVE difference to your debt repayments, AND it won't scupper your chances of getting your own mortgage in the near future (if your earnings allow that)

Good luck with it all, its never easy when a relationship has broken down, but I would say look after yourself and your kids first, which means clearing your debt as much as possible, and £30k towards a new business venture will be plenty for your ex, it just means it will take him a bit longer to get himself established.

wannabedebtfree_2

p.s. I forgot to add, are all of the debts your own personal debts, I know they were in your name, but were they for family/house things, because if so even if they are in your sole name your hubby should pay half as part of a divorce settlement, which would wipe your slate clean, but it wouldn't leave him much for his new business in the short term.