If our son came to live with us - his debt

GillyFlower

Our adult son has been through a difficult time, he has debts basically as a result of having to close his business down so having no income. Finally things are looking up and he now has a job and is able to start looking forward.

I do not want to go into detail but if we allowed him to use our address and live here whenever he wanted to would we be held responsible for his debts? I am terrified that a bailiff may call and expect us to pay up. We have no debts, own our home and pay full Council Tax. I don't want our home linked to his personal debts.

Any thoughts would be apprecated.

forgotmyname

No you are not responsible for his debts. Although any debt collectors or demands will come to your address.

You just tell them to go away.

19lottie82

No. Debts are linked to an individual, NOT an address.

As long as you or your OH have no joint accounts with your son, it won't cause any problems.

McKneff

You would never be held responsible for his debts, you may get a bit harriaased if debt collectors were chasing him, knocking at your door, but hopefully if he is now working he can sort his debts out.




A bailiff would only come to your house after a county court judgement, but like I say, his debt and you would never have to pay them.

GillyFlower

Thank you so much.

It has been a really tough time all around not only for him but for me also. I have had a serious illness and he had a serious accident all coming at the same time. He let out his property to at least have a little income and relied on friends to put him up and has also stayed with us.

I just thought it would help him save even more money and feel settled if we were to offer that he came back here to live. He has managed to work for nearly a year now and we see a complete change in him as though he has gained his self respect. He will I am sure start to sort out his debts.

I thought I read somewhere, not on here, that a bailiff called to a parent's home and said they had the right to seize possessions because the son was now living with them. They were concerned they had to find receipts to prove what belonged to them so it was not seized.

Another thought - not that I am going to apply for Credit - but if he were living with us does that effect our Credit Rating as I don't know if it is linked to the house or the person?

Would we have to tell the Council Tax department? I sound so naive but we have lived on our own for years.

Thank you for your help I just do not want to put out this offer to him only to find we have further worries and I know he would not want that.

National_Debtline

GillyFlower wrote: »

Thank you so much.

It has been a really tough time all around not only for him but for me also. I have had a serious illness and he had a serious accident all coming at the same time. He let out his property to at least have a little income and relied on friends to put him up and has also stayed with us.

I just thought it would help him save even more money and feel settled if we were to offer that he came back here to live. He has managed to work for nearly a year now and we see a complete change in him as though he has gained his self respect. He will I am sure start to sort out his debts.

I thought I read somewhere, not on here, that a bailiff called to a parent's home and said they had the right to seize possessions because the son was now living with them. They were concerned they had to find receipts to prove what belonged to them so it was not seized. I can't comment on what you read as I don't know its source. However, you refer to your son's debts as being related to his business. If this is the case, they would normally only be recoverable through the civil courts, in which case any bailiffs would have no powers to force entry. So you would not need to worry about ownership issues, as long as you did not allow any bailiffs into your home.

Another thought - not that I am going to apply for Credit - but if he were living with us does that effect our Credit Rating as I don't know if it is linked to the house or the person? See 19lottie82's post above - credit ratings relate to an individual, not to an address.

Would we have to tell the Council Tax department? I sound so naive but we have lived on our own for years. You are not claiming any means-tested benefits as far as I can see, so non-disclosure is not creating any obvious financial advantage for you. From your son's point of view, it is up to him - he may prefer to remain registered to vote at his "home" address.

Thank you for your help I just do not want to put out this offer to him only to find we have further worries and I know he would not want that.

Hi GillyFlower

Some answers above in bold, hope they are useful.

Kind regards

Dennis @NDL

GillyFlower

Hi Dennis

Regarding -

I thought I read somewhere, not on here, that a bailiff called to a parent's home and said they had the right to seize possessions because the son was now living with them. They were concerned they had to find receipts to prove what belonged to them so it was not seized.

Sorry I confused the issue. The debts are addressed to him personally and not the business. I read this article on another forum and of course when you are worried you 'pick up' on things very quickly and 'run with them' I suppose.

So basically, if I understand this correctly, it seems we can offer him support by -

1. Living with us if he wishes until he gets back on his feet.
2. We are not claiming any means tested benefits and in fact are not using all my allocated un-earned income. (Not that we would charge him rent.)
3. He could use our address, I could even put him on the Electoral roll if he wished, and if any Bailiffs came his debts are his alone and do not mean they have any right on our property or to our possessions.

If this is the case then we could do what any parent would want to do and that is to help where we can.

Thank you so much for your input.

National_Debtline

GillyFlower wrote: »

Hi Dennis

Regarding -

I thought I read somewhere, not on here, that a bailiff called to a parent's home and said they had the right to seize possessions because the son was now living with them. They were concerned they had to find receipts to prove what belonged to them so it was not seized.

Sorry I confused the issue. The debts are addressed to him personally and not the business. I read this article on another forum and of course when you are worried you 'pick up' on things very quickly and 'run with them' I suppose.

So basically, if I understand this correctly, it seems we can offer him support by -

1. Living with us if he wishes until he gets back on his feet.
2. We are not claiming any means tested benefits and in fact are not using all my allocated un-earned income. (Not that we would charge him rent.)
3. He could use our address, I could even put him on the Electoral roll if he wished, and if any Bailiffs came his debts are his alone and do not mean they have any right on our property or to our possessions.

If this is the case then we could do what any parent would want to do and that is to help where we can.

Thank you so much for your input.

Hi again GF

My advice stands regardless of his trading status. If he is/was a sole trader, most/all of the debts he has will likely be to banks and suppliers, I presume? Either way they are civil matters as opposed to criminal, so bailiffs wouldn't have any special powers. Even if he owes business rates to a council, their bailiffs won't be able to barge into a residential property without consent.

I have to stress as well that for most types of personal debt, bailiffs would not just materialise out of the blue. A creditor like a bank or supplier would first of all need to take action through the courts before bailiffs even became a possibility. Many creditors won't automatically go down this path, especially if they are aware that he is struggling financially. It costs money to take court action and they won't want to spend that money for no return.

Your son might find our fact sheet on business-related debts useful (it's aimed at those who have stopped trading):

http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/factsheet.php?page=04_how_to_deal_with_business_debt

Dennis @NDL