Husband going bankrupt, effects of IPA on spouse?

r710

Hi,

Am an occasional poster on here and avid reader of this board given the fact that my husband is likely to apply for his own bankruptcy due to a failed business venture as a sole trader.

On the positive he has recently secured a full-time permanent job.

I currently work part time and as such, with him being the higher earner in the family, and taking into consideration the possible allowances, I think we will be left with very little surplus for an IPA.

I have just started further academic training as part of my job. It transpires that it is unrealistic to undertake this within my part-time hours, (others on the course are doing the exact same work for a full time wage). So I'm wondering if I should ask to increase my hours which would significantly increase my wage.

My query is this..... If I was to increase my wage, would this not then inadvertently increase any surplus my husband may have? So currently my husband earns approx. £19k per year, and me £11.5k, but my wage could potentially double, meaning the proportions we are expected to contribute to the household would change.


Whilst I totally accept that there are consequences of the bankruptcy and the IPA is far preferable to the current mess we are in, I am worried that I will be working twice as hard to assist with paying my husbands IPA. Does that make sense? Am now wondering if it wouldn't be better to do the extra work needed in my own time, and not receive financial recognition for it. (Although this idea grates a little as my job is pressured enough as it is, let alone to know I was doing it for free, particularly as I would often need to pay for childcare to be able to do this).

An alternative that has been discussed is the possibility that I get paid for the extra hours I do as overtime (same standard rate). These hours may vary from month to month according to the academic calendar and would not be guaranteed. How would this affect any IPA?

I realise that now my husband has secured work I ought to do an updated SOA to give an idea of how close my husband would be to having a surplus.

Does anyone have any experience in terms of how their partners income affected their IPA? Or is anyone able to clarify if I am am correct in believing it's not beneficial to my family for me to earn any more as it would just be taken in an IPA...

Hope I have explained the situation. Frustrated at even having to consider the consequences of it.

Thanks

Ineedaname

I think the important thing to focus on her is the long term plan, rather than worrying about possible implications for a 3 year IPA. If you need to do the extra hours in order to focus on your training for a better life in the future, then do so and take the hit. What are the implications if you do not take on the extra hours, say 1 year, 3 years and even 5 years down the line?

Obviously an increase in your wages will have an effect on your husband's surplus because you will be able to contribute a higher percentage towards the total household expenditure. But I presume there will also be higher childcare costs too, so that will increase the joint expenditure...

You will only get a better idea once you've drafted up various SOA scenarios.

r710

Thanks Ineedaname.

You are right to remind me to focus on the long term plan and absolutely, the training I am doing will make life better for us all in the future.

The training is something I've already signed up to, whatever I decide to do about the extra hours, so I either seek to be paid more, or accept that I will be doing a lot of work unpaid (while others get paid for it).

I'll work on the SOA's and see where the various options leave us.

Regards