How to provide for my wife and child?

saltnvinegar

deepintrouble wrote: »

Saltnvinegar - We've tried so many different ways to sell the house, Its essentially a very nice house. Quite new, well kept, recently decorated etc etc etc. Its just £10k overpriced because of the mortgage. There are 6 others on the same street, all for sale in an identical position. This is why I think we have to accept the fact that we are going to have to stay here for a while.

Ok - from that scenario then it would seem the decision is almost made for you (unless your wife has enough of a deposit to make up any negative equity should you get an offer on your house).

Does your wife not qualify for maternity pay for 6 months? This will help a little.

You could look at other money making ideas. Set up a home ironing business/ebay/crafts etc.

Keep the CCCS in the loop and let them deal with your creditors. Its very unlikely they will take you to court (though not guaranteed) if they're informed the reason for your change in circumstances is only temporary while your wife is on maternity leave.

And even if a charging order was awarded as your home is your family home (and with new baby arrivede remember) it is even more unlikely that a Judge would enforce the sale of your home and make you homeless (especially if in negative equity!).

Very best of luck and enjoy being a daddy!

SnV

RAS

saltnvinegar wrote: »

And even if a charging order was awarded as your home is your family home (and with new baby arrivede remember) it is even more unlikely that a Judge would enforce the sale of your home and make you homeless (especially if in negative equity!).

It is almost unheard of for a CO to lead to an order for sale - I think it is about 0.4% of COs that go that far.

saltnvinegar

RAS wrote: »

It is almost unheard of for a CO to lead to an order for sale - I think it is about 0.4% of COs that go that far.

And hopefully, if our new coalition government pulls its finger out, there will be a minimum cap of £25,000 on unsecured debt before a sale could be forced.

http://www.moneywise.co.uk/spending/debtwizard/article/2010/05/28/homeowners-cant-have-unsecured-debt

You can read the consultation paper here:

http://www.justice.gov.uk/consultations/docs/orders-for-sale.pdf

If thats too much like heavy reading (!) heres an extract that may be of interest:

Current safeguards against losing your home through an order for sale

[FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial]The court has discretion whether to make final charging orders and must take into consideration all the circumstances of the case and in particular the evidence before it as to the personal circumstances of the debtor and whether any other creditors would be prejudiced by the making of an order (section 1(1) and (5) of the Charging Orders Act 1979). The principles under which the court should exercise its discretion to make an interim charging order final were discussed in [/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial]Roberts Petroleum Ltd v Bernard Kenny Ltd [1982] [/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial]a commercial case, [/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial]First National Securities Ltd v Hegarty [1984] [/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial]and [/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial]Harman v Glencross [1986][/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial], among other cases. [/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial][/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial]It is open to the court, in the exercise of its discretionary powers, not to grant an order for sale for, for example, small judgment debts that are disproportionately small compared to the equity in the property concerned. [/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial][/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial]Because of this, and the cost of implementing orders for sale, the majority of creditors do not apply for orders to enforce the sale of the property or asset and are content to simply "secure" their debt and await the natural turn-around of the property (estimated at about 7 years on average). The current case law offers safeguards against loss of residential property where there are joint homeowners of a property. [/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial][/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial]The case of [/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial]Austin-Fell v Austin-Fell Midland Bank plc (1990) [/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial]established that enforcement of a charging order may also be suspended until the judgment debtor’s children are of age. [/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial][/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial]The position of a spouse of the judgment debtor requires particular consideration ([/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial]Harman v Glencross [1986][/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial]) as they are entitled under s 1(5) of the Charging Orders Act to make representation to the court whether or not they are a joint trustee, so long as they are in occupation of the matrimonial home. [/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial][/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial]In considering whether to make an order for sale, the court will balance, against the rights of the creditor to recover the debt, the rights of the debtor and his/her family in respect of the family home under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (right to respect for private and family life), in all the circumstances of the case. [/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial][/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial]Where there are joint home owners), the court can – under sections 14 and 15 of the Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996 - take into account the intention behind the purchase of the home (ie whether it was intended to be the family home) and whether any dependents or minors are in occupation.
[/FONT][/FONT]

deepintrouble

Thanks, This makes very interesting reading.

any guesses on how long it will take to become law, or if it can be used to influence a court before then?