Anyone had to bankrupt due to partner becoming full time mum

Chris4877

Hi, currently have 34000 worth of insecure debt, loan and 3 credit cards. I've always paid my debts, no missed payments or bad credit. My fianc!e is currently on maternity leave until August so things are tight but manageable. However as of April I start into a new pension scheme at work which will take £410 a month and my fianc!e will not be returning to work in August due to full time child care costs. My fianc!e has no idea how much I owe and I have no intentions just yet to tell her I'm going Bankrupt, she doesn't need the added stress with with having a child. I've worked out my finances, I currently have around £160 a month surplus to pay my debt until August but as of then there will be nothing. As I don't want my fianc!e to know of my Bankiptcy will the official reciever request any proof that my fianc!e has quit her job or the fact she won't be bringing any money in to the home. Given its my bankruptcy, can they request anything to do with my fianc!e

Thank you

ezzauk

Are you and you partner in rented property? Could you not opt out of the pension scheme until you can afford to rejoin.

Personally i would tell you partner about your debts, my OH has been great and supported me all the way. The OR will want to know what the household outgoings are and what your partner contributes towards the household bills.

Ezzauk

antrobus

Chris4877 wrote: »

Hi, currently have 34000 worth of insecure debt, loan and 3 credit cards. I've always paid my debts, no missed payments or bad credit. My fianc!e is currently on maternity leave until August so things are tight but manageable. However as of April I start into a new pension scheme at work which will take £410 a month and my fianc!e will not be returning to work in August due to full time child care costs. My fianc!e has no idea how much I owe and I have no intentions just yet to tell her I'm going Bankrupt, she doesn't need the added stress with with having a child. I've worked out my finances, I currently have around £160 a month surplus to pay my debt until August but as of then there will be nothing. As I don't want my fianc!e to know of my Bankiptcy will the official reciever request any proof that my fianc!e has quit her job or the fact she won't be bringing any money in to the home. Given its my bankruptcy, can they request anything to do with my fianc!e

Thank you

What you really need to do is;

1) get some advice http://www.stepchange.org/
2) tell your fiance, you can't hide this sort of thing for ever

fermi

From the OR's guidance when they are looking at whether an Income Payment agreement is appropriate for you to pay surplus income to them

Section (i) Income received from spouse/civil partner/partner

31.7.71 Income received from spouse/civil partner/partner

It is reasonable to expect that within the household of the bankrupt and his/her family, the income received by a working spouse/civil partner/partner (all referred to as "partner" for the remainder of this section) or a partner who receives income from other independent means, will be used to contribute to the household expenditure in some way, for example by purchasing food, clothing for him/herself and any children, etc. The bankrupt may genuinely not know his/her partner’s income and/or the partner may not be willing to disclose it to the official receiver as they are not personally subject to the proceedings. Legal advice has been received that it is not a proper use of section 366 URL="https://www.insolvencydirect.bis.gov.uk/technicalmanual/Ch25-36/Chapter31/part7/part3/part_3notes.htm#6"]note 6[/URL to have a partner privately examined for the purpose of obtaining details of his/her income to establish whether an IPA/IPO may be obtained.

31.7.72 Ascertaining partner’s income where bankrupt does not co-operate

Where resistance to the disclosure of the partner's income is encountered, in the absence of any information to the contrary, it is appropriate for the official receiver to assume that the working partner pays for 50% of all household expenditure. This will enable an income payments calculation to be completed to ascertain whether there is any surplus, and the bankrupt’s share of that surplus, against which an IPA/IPO can be sought. It is likely that an assumption of this nature will provoke a response from the bankrupt and/or their partner and if the required information concerning the exact amount of the partner’s income is then received, the official receiver may re-calculate the income and expenditure of the bankrupt taking in to account this new information.

31.7.73IPA/IPO payments to be equal to or less than the bankrupt’s surplus income (amended April 2012)

As with state benefits which supplement earned income, whilst it is acceptable to include the income of the bankrupt's partner as part of the total income received into the household of the bankrupt, it should be noted that an IPA/IPO claim can only be made against the surplus arising from the bankrupt's income. Any calculation of surplus income for the purpose of obtaining an IPA/IPO should work out the surplus available having assessed total income and total expenditure of the bankrupt and his/her household and taking into account the outgoings of both the bankrupt and his/her partner. The extent of any surplus arising should then be apportioned according to the bankrupt’s share of the total income. For assistance in calculating income payments calculations please refer to the Technical Section Income Payments Calculators and Household Expenditure Intranet page.

Chris4877

I will tell my fianc!e at some point, when I think she can handle it, I know she will be supportive and understand. I have filled my forms in and declared all income coming into the house from my partners side which is maternity allowance. We are not entitled to anything else due to how much I earn. It was more a case of if the OR demands proof she quit her job, which was just after she went on maternity then I don't have access to that info

Chris4877

Thanks Fermi, cleared things up a bit, I have no intentions to withhold anything to the OR, just my fianc!e as bad as it sounds but there are good intentions behind it

Chris4877

Ezzak we are in rented property, why would that matter?

duchy

If you are too scared to tell her now - how will you find the courage later.

If a partner kept something this massive from me I'd leave him as I could no longer trust him and we wouldn't have a partnership as partners would discuss problems together and try to find solutions. If that meant me going back to work/moving somewhere cheaper/living frugally etc -then that is my choice - but I certainly wouldn't expect to be kept in the dark.

You refer to her as your fiancee - which presumably means you see yourselves as a lifelong partnership - so treat her like an equal partner and not like a delicate flower of limited mental capacity incapable of understanding family finance or joint decisionmaking.

Chris4877

I at no point said I was scared to tell her, that delicate flower you talk of is currently boarder line post natal depressive due to an extremely high maintanance child that doesn't feed or sleep very well. Il tell her when she can handle it and she will understand. With regards to being frugle, my debts are currently around £1000 a month, once my fianc!e's maternity allowance stops then my wage covers all household expenditures with nothing for a social life, it's as fridge as I can be, thanks for your advice

tigerfeet2006

You will also get mail through from the IS office, how will you hide that if the postman comes after you have gone to work?

Who have you sought advice from about BR?

Chris4877

If it's in my name she won't open it. I've spoken to stepchange about it