NOt sure about stopping payments, advice needed

sticks123

Hi All

My husband and I have been struggling for a couple of years now with debt and further changes have forced us to seriously consider applying for bankruptcy. We are currently on an informal short term arrangement with unsecured creditors.
In Sept and Oct we took a payment break on our mortgage (we had hoped our situation was fixable and just needed breathing space). Over this time, following appts with CAB we have come to the conclusion that bankruptcy is our best option.
We own our home but come january will not be able to afford to live here, however we can secure rented accommodation in the next few weeks
I just have a couple of question
1 As it will cost £600 each for filing the bankruptcy, and not having access to this amount, I thought that as we are able to move, to stop paying the mortgage and using this money to pay for the petition. Is this against the rules??
2 Although we have got ourselves into debt - I acknowledge we often made poor choices - the reasons we are having difficulty are due to unforseen changes in circumstances. Does this mean we are unlikely to have a bankriptcy accepted?
3 We are currently seeking legal action against my hubbys employer which MAY result in financial reparation, but even if it does it will not be for months. If we were to get a payout, would this immediately go towards the 'estate'?

Sorry for going on but am panicing a bit! Any info or advice would be much appreciated.

Cheers

IF

Hello Sticks and welcome, stopping morgage payment is not against the rules, many have done this to pay BR fees and rent money.
If CAB has advised BR as an option then you will not be refused BR. Basically the judge just wants to be sure that you sought advice so you can never come back and try and overturn the order on the basis that you were not aware of all the consequences.

Not a 100% of the answer to question 3, I'm sure someone will advise further on that. Don't lose heart if your question isn't answered quickly as it's very quiet here this weekend.

For ‘essential’ info this is Fermi’s sticky - Click here


And do remember we’ve all been through this and anything you don’t understand don’t be afraid to ask.

Best wishes
If...x

sticks123

thanks so much If! I think i'm maybe over reading (if that's possible) into everything on the factsheets and in particular wether they would say i had been dishonest or favoured creditors if I didn't make my mortgage payment. i'm just trying to make this a little bit easier on us by securing a stable home etc. and although i've missed payments(paid later tho) before for things like catalogues etc i've never missed any other payments, so was just starting to get a bit antsy about it all as my mortgage was due last week.
thanks again

bat-out-of-hell

secured creditors are differant to unsecured creditors, paying secured creditors is not seen as preferential in some cases, mortgage is one, as you need a place to live.


When in debt, and you can not meet the repaymants, secured paymant that relate to the roof over your head always come first, and will not be questioned.

Tupperware_Queen

I did exactly that - could never have found the BR fees and costs of moving, without stopping mortgage payments. BR 4 weeks ago now...eekk!!