Partner going bankrupt, how does it affect me ?

littlegoldfishie

:mad: Hello all,
Just a quick question, not sure if anyone can help really.....
I bought my house 2 years ago, it's all in my name. My BF is registered as living here, we pay Council Tax for the pair of us and we have each other insured etc.
Now he has been in a IVA for almost a year, it's crippling us. I am now getting to the same position he was in when he got the IVA to sort out his finances. Just for us to survive, I have maxed out 3 credit cards, got a loan, and started to become terrible at paying things off.
He is deeply considering bankruptcy as a serious alternative, there seems to be no way out of this and if we carry on like we are we will either split up or i'll end up in the same position as him. If he is sucessfull in his claim for bankruptcy, will it effect me in terms of anyone having a claim on the house? (He does have a kinda vested interest in it, he helped me get the deposit together- on his friggen Credit card) but as I said before it's all in my name. We are also worried about how the OR will see things, as now I have more debt, he has to take up more of the bills , and mortgage repayments. Oh and 3 weeks ago he had to sell his car to pay off some debts (house related) and now only has a small £1000 car, but how will the OR see the spending of 3 grand, not on HIS debts ?
The whole thing is a complete nightmare.
Really just looking for some advice........
Thanks

L

allofadither

Hello,

Sorry to hear you're struggling but you're in the right place for support and advice.

1. If the house is in your name and only your OH goes BR then it's safe.
2. Your OH can only go BR for his debts, any joint debts will automatically pass to you.
3. As for the 3K spending...depends excatly what he spent it on. Sevicing your debts will not look good, but servicing joint debts/living expenses should be OK.

Is there any way he can reduce his IVA? If he does go BR the Judge will just want to make sure he has explored all other avenues first, so it's worth checking.

Hope this helps, but there are others on here who will chip in too, so stick with us.:)

littlegoldfishie

Thanks for getting back to me allofadither, he try and explain to the IVA company that he (and as a consequence we) are struggling to meet the montly payments, but the woman on the phone was downright nasty, she told my patner that if he did not keep up the payments, and BR happened that we would lose the house, even if it is in my name and not his, she accused him of lying about saying he could afford to keep up the payments on the IVA when it was first arranged, he really thought that we could afford it, but we just cant. She sent out a form for him to adjust the living expenses so that the IVA payments can be reduced, but to be quite honest, it's almost as if the comapny that is dealing with the IVA (Blair Endersby) have bought the debt and are now doing the hard sell and trying to scare him into meeting payments that we just can't meet. I am now up to my eyes in debt. I wish we had been frivolous, but we live hand to mouth, and I can count on one hand the amount of times that we have done anything social in the past 2 years, despite not having any children and both of us working full time.
We don't have joint debts, everything is in my name now. His debts were all included in his IVA. I wonder how the OR will see the fact that even though he is on a semi decent wage, he now has to support the bills in the house as all my wages are gone on friggen bills, that we have acculmulated since the IVA started just to keep our head above water....
Thanks anyway
L

allofadither

Hi littlefishie.

First off I would suggest your OH seeks advice and help from one of the free debt counselling charities, CCCs, Payplan, CAB. He needs to kick the other IVA company into touch asap. This situation needs urgent attention so it's imperative he does this soon. They will give him good, free impartial advice.

Second...what do you want to do about your debts? You could also speak to the debt counselling charities too, do it together. You'll get all the right advice about IVA's and BR.

**Patty**

CCCS: 0800 138111

Hurry up...i think they *shut* at 8pm

allofadither

Littlefishie, have a look at the BCSC website for more info...it might answer a few questions for youhttp://www.bankruptcysupportersclub.co.uk/default.aspx

littlegoldfishie

Thanks to all that have responded so far, it really is much appreciated, really really appreciated.
I can't "do" anything at the moment, my chap is away on a training course with work 'til Friday, he needs to do the calling.
The debts that I have incurred I can cope with, well, I could cope with them if my BF was granted BR and did not have to pay out this stupid amount of money each month, even if he did have to pay money back, at least it would only be for a year or so, there would be at least a light at the end of the tunnel, rather than the 8 years that he has been told he has to pay £470 every month. So in this instance, he could help me get stuff paid off, we really can't afford to lose this house by me having to go into an IVA or DMP.
I agree CCCS seems to be the best option, I am pretty sure that he had spoke with them around the time he entered into the IVA with Blair Endersby,though I am sure the reason he went for B E was because CCCS could only schedule him for propper phone interview 3 weeks later, and with balifs knocking at the door, that was 3 weeks too long to wait. I wish we had waited the extra 3 weeks now ......
Ok thanks once again, I really appreciate all the advice. Some advice will be seeked once my chappie returns home.

L