My wife bankrupt whilst I battle on

beattiedh

Hi

My wife and I cannot cover the cost of our debts however the majority are in her name.

My Job is PAYE and commissioned based but has been dire for the last 6 months but is starting to pick up. She earns about £600 a month as a teachers assistant.

We have been thinking about her going into BR and I battle on with my debts hoping to clear them and at least have one family member without BR or IVA.

What would be the repercussions for joint goods, TV, car, accounts, my pay etc?

We rent privately and have no savings left.

Any help would be great.

thank you

peppa-pig

Hi

You need to seek professional, free advice from one of the debt charities in the sticky at the top of this forum. They will advise if BR is the right option to take. This is a requirement which the judge will ask about should you decide to take this path.

Firstly all joint debts would fall to you in full. The car depends on who the legal owner is (Not necessarily the same as the registered keeper), the value of it and if there is a real need for her to have a car. Eg - no public transport to take her to and from work, how many other cars are in the household etc.

Joint bank accounts would be frozen and any overdraft balance would fall solely to you. She would not be able to hold an account with any overdraft facility.

Your Landlord would likely be informed by the OR of her BR in case you have any rent arrears. You need to check your tenancy agreement to see if there is a BR clause as this can be used if you are in arears and go BR. If you are not in arrears and are good on time paying tenants, you probably won't have any problems. Just a quiet word to your landlord out of courtesy to inform them what is going on and assure them that you can continue to pay rent in full and on time.

Hope this helps and ask any more questions you may have. This forum is great for giving advise and support from people who have travelled the same path as the one you are looking at.

Good luck.

beattiedh

Many thanks.

The debts are essentially in her name as the card holder and account holder of the home shopping accounts. We are not in arrears with our rent and they are very good to us. Have been here for 5 years.

We bought the car for £850 and is not worth much more and live in the middle of nowhere so need it.

Thanks for your help though.

peppa-pig

i would imagine the OR wouldn't have an interest in your car as it is such low value.

HTH

tigerfeet2006

I concur with Peppa. Also as she has said phone one of the debt charities and get some proper advice. Links and no.'s in my sig.