Husband's bankruptcy - please help :(

bobbingalong123

I imagine this might be the first of quite a few posts...

This might be a bit complicated so please bear with me...

Husband has to go bankrupt. His debts are over £1m. I won't go into the hows and whys but needless to say bankrutcy is his only option.

I earn quite a good salary £40k gross roughly. We have a 9m old son.

How will my income be taken into account for a repayment order? Am I going to be made to pay for more than half now even though this is nothing to do with me? (And I in fact knew NOTHING about a lot of the debts..... for another thread maybe...!!!)

Also - some of the debts might have been fraudulantly obtained (again, I knew nothing about this...). I understand this can lead to a restriction order. Can somebody tell me about them and how they work?????

He had been earning quite good money but as a company director which he now obviousl can't be. Basically his income has now dropped to a big fat £0. We've decided he will be primary full time child carer and I will go back to work full time (only P/T at the mo). Will this mean he wont have a repayment order? But let's say he gets an evening job and earns a little bit of money - will they just take this because I earn a lot??

Basically if he earns a bit of money I would like him to contribute to rent and bills quite frankly. I have a lot of debt myself (which I manage fine) and dont want to be paying for EVERYTHING!!

God I have no idea how this works!! I've read so much online but learnt nothing! Please help!!

Also, he owns a property. Can he sell it? Provided not at an undervalue? If he puts money on account with sols will this be ok? Just that it has a bridging loan on it which will accrue interest at the rate of £3k per month starting next month. Going to wipe out any capital for creditors if he just leaves it!!!!!!!! (Has about 40k equity in it)

Also with the "fraudulant" bit - is it right that these debts cannot actually be written off?? What if his bankruptcy goes through before he is even charged with anything? (investigation ongoing) Who decides if they were fraud or not? And if you cant write them off, what happens then? Am I going to have baillifs on my door for the rest of my life????

Sorry, quite a few random questions Please help. Our lives have changed forever I knew nothing about all of this and am trying to hold our lives together for the sake of my son

freddy911

If he goes BR and is out of work, then your salary will not count towards paying for his BR, they can only take surplus of him.

bobbingalong123

I understand that but what I mean is will they take my income into account when calculating out basic living expenses. So for example let's say I earn £2k one month and he earns £100. Our living expenses are, say, £1000 for that month. Will they take the whole £100 off him because I can easily cover that £1000 or will he be allowed to contribute say £50 or even the whole £100?? Do you see what I mean??

freddy911

Also do you have equity in your home? is it joint owned? obviously this will be taken if any equity is present, and that potential exists for 3 years if not equity at present.

You really should take advice from one of the debt charities CCCS, CAB etc

bobbingalong123

We rent our home

bobbingalong123

I have taken advice from them but as soon as I mention the fraud part they say they cant help!!! They've been next to useless frankly

freddy911

bobbingalong123 wrote: »

I understand that but what I mean is will they take my income into account when calculating out basic living expenses. So for example let's say I earn £2k one month and he earns £100. Our living expenses are, say, £1000 for that month. Will they take the whole £100 off him because I can easily cover that £1000 or will he be allowed to contribute say £50 or even the whole £100?? Do you see what I mean??

Not sure how they apportion the share of bills etc, but if he is only earning such a low amount I think it would be fair to say most of it is taken by his living costs, clothing, food, minor share of the bills etc.

freddy911

Well in most cases the examiner at the OR office will decide if a BRO is to be sought, but if the fraud is severe maybe the police would be involved? I think its something that people on a forum would struggle to advise.

bobbingalong123

Police already involved, all being investigated and that is ongoing and going to be a very long process.

It's just the Qs relating to the bankruptcy I need help with

Thanks for your help sricher3, I know it's a tricky one

freddy911

http://www.bis.gov.uk/policies/business-law/criminal-investigations

freddy911

What we do

We investigate and prosecute a range of offences, primarily relating to personal or company insolvencies. The offences that we prosecute most often are:

• Wrongdoing by a bankrupt both before and after a bankruptcy order has been made (sections 353-360 of the Insolvency Act 1986 and the Fraud Act 2006);
• Malpractice by company officers before and during the winding up / liquidation of a limited liability company (sections 206-211 of the Insolvency Act 1986 and the Fraud Act 2006);
• Offences related to the re-use of a liquidated company’s name by a successor company (‘phoenix companies’) (section 216 of the Insolvency Act 1986);
• Breach of directors disqualification orders, bankruptcy orders and bankruptcy restriction orders (sections 11 and 13 of the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986);
• Fraudulent trading (section 458 of the Companies Act 1985 and section 993 of the Companies Act 2006);
• Malpractice by company directors in relation to the keeping and preservation of company accounting records (sections 221-222 of the Companies Act 1985 and sections 387 & 389 of the Companies Act 2006).

The majority of the offences that we prosecute are punishable by a maximum penalty of 2-10 years imprisonment and/or a fine.
We will always consider making an application for ancillary orders. For example, after a conviction we will apply for confiscation and compensation wherever appropriate.

Where a person is convicted of certain offences in connection with the setting up or management of a company, the sentencing court may also disqualify that person from being a director or being involved in the management of any other company for up to 15 years (section 2 of the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986).
Who refers complaints to us?

We receive most of our complaints about suspected criminal offences from:

• The Insolvency Service
• Companies House
• Companies Investigation Branch

We also prosecute for offences referred to us by other parts of the department such as the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate.
These organisations are all one of the BIS delivery partners.
We do not accept complaints directly from members of the public. If you wish to make a complaint, please refer to our guidance on making a complaint.
Our investigations

Where appropriate, the Criminal Investigations and Prosecutions Team will conduct a criminal investigation into the allegations referred to us. In some cases, we decide not to investigate but to leave the matter to regulatory enforcement. However, if we do start a criminal investigation, it will be conducted by our Investigation Officers.
We will approach anyone who we believe may assist our investigation and request them to provide a written witness statement. In many cases, the investigation will include an invitation to an ‘interview under caution’ for the person(s) suspected of criminality. That person cannot be compelled to attend the interview but this is an opportunity for the person to answer the allegation(s).
Our prosecutions

In each case referred to us, one of our lawyers will decide whether or not to prosecute any individual or company. This decision is made by considering all of the evidence available and applying the Code for Crown Prosecutors (external link). We will prosecute where we believe that there is sufficient evidence for there to be a realistic prospect of conviction and where it is in the public interest to prosecute.

We sometimes decide to prosecute even when there are already civil disqualification proceedings ongoing or a disqualification order has been made. This is because the purpose of the civil and the criminal proceedings are distinct. The criminal prosecution seeks to provide the court with the opportunity to punish the individual for their criminal conduct. The purpose of disqualification proceedings, however, is to protect the public from the abuse of the privilege of limited liability status and therefore to maintain the integrity of the business environment.

Once a prosecution begins, any witness may be required to give evidence. BIS prosecution witnesses are supported by our law clerks team. If you would like information about being a prosecution witness, please see our guidance on Information for Victims and Witnesses.