Urgent Help Please!!

xxemmax

Ok well to cut to the point, my mum tried to commit suicide last night. The main problem appears to be a lot of hidden debt that she has basically been ignoring. Ive sat and opened months worth of mail this morning and it seems shes in about 40k worth of debt spread over a few places. Mainly 20k to RBS, 7.5 on council tax, loans with Welcome Finance and Provident and lots of smaller ones. Basically the council tax debt was taken to court last week and they have declared her bankrupt. Unfortunately this was unknown as she hadnt opened any of the letters. Im really just wondering if anyone can help me with how to proceed with this as im at a loss?? She lives in a council house but her name is still on the house she used to share with my father as they have not divorced yet so i presume they will try and take this? I would really appreciate any advice anyone has on what to do next regarding the bancruptcy and what to do about the other debts, she really has no income so is not in the position to pay them off. Thanks

JCS1

Really sorry to hear about your mum, I hope she is recovering well and getting all the help she can.

Regarding the BR, the best thing to do it make contact with the OR who will then arrange an interview to go through all her debts (as all unsecured debts will be included). Depending on how your mum is, you may want to consider contacting the OR yourself - ask to speak to the Assistant Official Receiver assigned to the case and explain what has happened.

With regards to the property, is there any equity in it?

[Deleted User]

Contact one of the charity debt lines (make sure it's a charity one - do not pay for this kind of advice), they should be able to give you individual help and advice.

xxemmax

Hi thanks for the replies. Yes i think im going to have to try and deal with as much of this myself as possible as shes not really in a fit state and to be honest i dont trust her to follow through or let us know whats happening. Im not sure on how much equity there is in the property but they only paid around 50k for it and is now worth about roughly 140k i guess with around 8 years to go on the mortgage. They seperated in 97/98 and shes not contributed to the mortgage since then but i suppose they dont take that into consideration?

Ive just spoke to my dad regarding the debt and hes in a position to be able to pay a large portion off it for her and has offered to do so in a hope it will relieve some of the pressure but im not sure if this is the best idea either.

Thanks again for you replies.

firstimers

So sorry to hear of your worries - hope things improve soon.

Speak to CAB (Citizens Advice) and ask for a referral to CCCS which is a registered charity who act as an intermediary to all debtors and try and negiotiate minimum payment or consolidation.

Good luck and she's very lucky to have such a caring child to look out for her.

JCS1

The OR will look to reliase the beneficial interest that your Mum has in the property, so they will take into account the length of time since she last contributed to the mortgage.

Unless your Dad is planning to pay off all unsecured creditors in full (and then you Mum could seek an annullment on the grounds of payment in full) then he should not pay anything. All debts will be included in the bankruptcy anyway.

Be back in a minute with some links.

nottoolate

xxemmax wrote: »

Ive just spoke to my dad regarding the debt and hes in a position to be able to pay a large portion off it for her and has offered to do so in a hope it will relieve some of the pressure but im not sure if this is the best idea either.

if she has been made bankrupt then i don't think it is legal to pay any of the debts unless they can all be cleared in full? or without the official recievers permission?

JCS1

Link to the sticky at the top of the BR forum with lots of useful information. Most of it is for when you petition to make yourself bankrupt rather than if a creditor makes you bankrupt, but the process is generally the same. The only real difference is that creditor petitions will be office based interviews rather than telephone interviews.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/1056083

I would suggest that you phone the OR's office and explain what has happened - if you mum doesn't respond and co-operate with them (and I suspect she's probably not able to do that for a while) they will take further court action.

Also some publications from the Insolvency Service website:

http://www.insolvency.gov.uk/guidanceleaflets/Guides.htm#Information about insolvency procedures

xxemmax

Thanks so much! Will have a look at those links and hopefully i'll be able to make some progress tommorow.

JCS1

If you've any queries after going through the links, pop over to the BR board and just ask on there.