LILA Bankrupcy Advice

unluckylaura

Hello , i was wondering if anyone would be able to advise on a few things.

Basically i think im going to have to go for bankruptcy and pretty sure would qualify for LILA in Scotland. It frustrating and horrible but with debt totally around £49,000 i don't see how im ever suppose to pay it back. About £40,000 is in my name only, the rest in a joint loan but my husband is wanting to avoid bankruptcy if possible (so he can still get mortgage ect.. but mostly to do with his career, he recently graduated and bankruptcy could have a large effect on him ). We are aware we would still have to pay back the joint amount

First - what income do they take into account ? Im married and a full time student. My husband works minimum wage , full time (we are under the allowance allowed and received working tax credits) , other income is working and child tax credit , housing benefit, child benefit , council tax benefit , and my student loan (which is only paid 9 months of the year) . His wages are in his name and my student loan in my name the rest is paid to us. We have 3 young children and im worried we will be left with nothing to live on..

Second , i owned a property and it was repossessed (which is where most of the debt comes from - around £40,000 of it relates to it ) . We do not yet know the exact figure we are going to owe, will i need to wait for that till we can apply for bankruptcy ?

I am planning to call and talk to one of the debt charities on Thursday and see what advice they can offer but was just wanting to know if anyone knew anymore about it before that..

Thanks

National_Debtline

Good evening Laura, I'll answer your questions for you. I'll quote some of your query and then answer underneath. For the record, we talk to scores of people every day that are investigating bankruptcy - and many are considering it due to similar reasons to you. Many, many people have been caught out by repossessions, negative equity situations and mortgage/secured loan shortfalls. You are not alone.

First - what income do they take into account ? Im married and a full time student. My husband works minimum wage , full time (we are under the allowance allowed and received working tax credits) , other income is working and child tax credit , housing benefit, child benefit , council tax benefit , and my student loan (which is only paid 9 months of the year) . His wages are in his name and my student loan in my name the rest is paid to us. We have 3 young children and im worried we will be left with nothing to live on..

They will want a household budget. Given that you only recieve a student loan and state benefits you should not be asked to pay anything other than the initial fee to become bankrupt.

Second , i owned a property and it was repossessed (which is where most of the debt comes from - around £40,000 of it relates to it ) . We do not yet know the exact figure we are going to owe, will i need to wait for that till we can apply for bankruptcy ?

You do not need to know the precise figure. You're OK to petition for your bankruptcy whenever you need. Any debt will be taken care of - regardless of if you know the precise balance or not.

If you click this text it will take you through to our fact sheet covering bankruptcy in Scotland

And this link will take you to the Accountant in Bankruptcy website

If you have any further questions feel free to give me a shout!

Best wishes,

David @ NDL.