Any advice please?

debtinfo

possibly the first thing you might want to do then to protect yourself further is to send him and the creditors a letter disolving the partnership (maybe getting it signed in the presense of a solicitor) so that if he tries to trade further in the future it will be clear for anyone else in the future that he does so as a sole trader and not as part of the partnership.

I cant really advise you what to do i can only provide information on your choices and you basically have realised that there are 3, try and pay the debt through a negotiation with the creditors formal or informal, bankruptcy, or wait it out and see what moves the creditors make. My main thought though is you have to look at what is the best option for yourself and ignore the slight from the other partner. An example of what i mean is i once saw a case between a couple whos relationship had broken down and one entered into bankruptcy, the other fought all the way to the lords to gain a bigger slice of the equity and won the case but the legal costs of the case wiped out nearly all of the equity and she walked away with a much smaller amount in the end

Mouse1812

The consequences of bankruptcy are serious, long term and lasting.

Professionals like accountants owe a duty of care to their clients. If you can establish they breached that duty and you face loss as a result you might be able to sue. If the accountants are members of a professional body (chartered) then they must have professional indemnity insurance.

Considering what you are about to lose I would think about having a chat with a solicitor who knows about the tort of negligence. Perhaps you could take a pop at both firms, see who coughs up first.

antonic

If your going to dissolve the partnership tell HMRC about it otherwise if they pursue the partnership for the debt and he goes BR, your left holding the debt (joint & severally liable).

If the partnership is going to cease completely download a VAT 7 deregistration form from the HMRC website, or central assessments will be issued which will just increase the debt more.

Roebuck_2

Looks like I need legal advice ASAP then!