Bankruptcy and partner questions

robert542

Hi,

I was wondering if I could have some advice from those who know. I am currently considering bankruptcy.

I live with my partner in her home (she has a sole mortgage). We each pay 50% of the total household expenditure, including household bills and her mortgage. I pay half of our total expenditure into an account in her name which we use solely for bills each month.

- How would I go about filling in the expenditure form? Can I say that we each pay 50% of all household bills and will continue to do this? Or can they insist that she pays more as they're in her name?

- My partner (soon to be wife) earns more than I do and has more 'disposable' income. Can they insist that she pays a higher percentage than me towards our household bills due to this?

- We are not financially linked at all - no joint accounts, joint mortgages or any other joint credit. However, we took out a loan this year (in her name, as my credit history is bad and I am not eligible for further credit) to pay for our wedding. Obviously, we understand that as this is in her name, this would not be included in my bankruptcy and we will continue paying it. I want to be able to contribute my 50% of this loan as it was for our wedding. Would I be able to list this as one of our joint household expenses that we each pay 50% of? Or would they insist that this was solely my partner's responsibility because it's in her name?

- When my partner purchased our current home, she borrowed money from a family member as part of the deposit. We have an arrangement with her relative and pay a set amount back each month via standing order. This also currently comes out of the account in her name which we use for joint household bills. As I live in the property and it is our home, I pay 50% of this money back to her relative also. What would we do in this situation? Would they say that this is at the expense of my creditors and that she should pay 100% of this from her income?

I am concerned that my partner will be left paying a lot of our joint bills alone which will leave her with very little - no disposable income due to my debts which were accumulated prior to our relationship.

Thank you for reading - I have been been reading a lot about bankruptcy online and have made appointments to get free debt advice to make sure that it is the right thing for my situation, but was just wondering if anyone had similar experiences they could share with us?

tigerfeet2006

robert542 wrote: »

Hi,

I was wondering if I could have some advice from those who know. I am currently considering bankruptcy.

I live with my partner in her home (she has a sole mortgage). We each pay 50% of the total household expenditure, including household bills and her mortgage. I pay half of our total expenditure into an account in her name which we use solely for bills each month. How long have you lived in her home?

- How would I go about filling in the expenditure form? Can I say that we each pay 50% of all household bills and will continue to do this? Or can they insist that she pays more as they're in her name? You put your joint essential household bills ie: mortgage, utililities, contents insurance etc. Your personal expenditure ie: car, medical, hair. Your full wage and what she contributes to the joint household bills (not full wage)

- My partner (soon to be wife) earns more than I do and has more 'disposable' income. Can they insist that she pays a higher percentage than me towards our household bills due to this? It is possible but the fall back point is 50%of bills if OH won't reveal income so that is an argument I have had an won too.

- We are not financially linked at all - no joint accounts, joint mortgages or any other joint credit. However, we took out a loan this year (in her name, as my credit history is bad and I am not eligible for further credit) to pay for our wedding. Obviously, we understand that as this is in her name, this would not be included in my bankruptcy and we will continue paying it. I want to be able to contribute my 50% of this loan as it was for our wedding Sorry but this is her debt and the OR won't let you pay her debt. Would I be able to list this as one of our joint household expenses that we each pay 50% of? NoOr would they insist that this was solely my partner's responsibility because it's in her name? Yes

- When my partner purchased our current home, she borrowed money from a family member as part of the deposit. We have an arrangement with her relative and pay a set amount back each month via standing order. This also currently comes out of the account in her name which we use for joint household bills. As I live in the property and it is our home, I pay 50% of this money back to her relative also. What would we do in this situation? Would they say that this is at the expense of my creditors and that she should pay 100% of this from her income? See above

I am concerned that my partner will be left paying a lot of our joint bills alone which will leave her with very little - no disposable income due to my debts which were accumulated prior to our relationship.

Thank you for reading - I have been been reading a lot about bankruptcy online and have made appointments to get free debt advice to make sure that it is the right thing for my situation, but was just wondering if anyone had similar experiences they could share with us?

Sorry not to have better news.

Have you been paying your creditors as well as these joint debts?

robert542

Thank you for your reply.

We have both lived in her home since February this year. Previously to this, we lived together in rented accommodation. It is a new build property which she bought using Help To Buy. When she purchased the property, we informed the mortgage provider and solicitors that I would be living in the property and we filled in relevant occupier paperwork. There is no equity in the property. Am I correct in thinking that my bankruptcy cannot affect our home as it is in my partner's name?

Are there other ways in which we could 'get around' the issue of these additional debts which are in her name? Could we, for example, add an expense for possible house maintenance/repair? My half of these additional payments comes to an extra £150 on top of my half of the mortgage payment and although I wouldn't be able to add this much to expenses I'm hoping there would be ways I could add some of this value to other allowances so I can at least contribute something.

tigerfeet2006

In your situation you will be fine as you have not accrued any beneficial interest in the property. That's why I asked how long you had been living in the house.

Please do an SoA and pop it up and let's see where you stand. Some items on this you won't be allowed but we'll play with it when it's up.

https://www.stoozing.com/calculator/soa.php

May I suggest you ring and talk to someone like National Debtline while you are waiting for your other appointment. Then you will have a couple of professional opinions, which is always advisable in these situations.

robert542

The forum won't allow me to post a link as I'm a new user, but I've sent you a private message (hope you don't mind) with a link to a spreadsheet of expenses.