Ex wife goes bankrupt!! Joint mortgage, please help

Zofo1000

Hello everyone,

Not sure who to turn to for solid advice, anyone out know?

My ex wife went bankrupt in May and the mortgage was in joint names.

My solicitor has been useless so it seems i have to wait for the outcome.

My two teenage children still live with their mother and since losing my business i have done everything in my power to stop going bankrupt so the children can stay in the family home.
My ex still appears to be running her business and in still driving around in her convertable with what can only be described as a rather cash rich person?

My questions are: how can she still be running her business?
How can she still be driving around in her car on hp?
Will my half of the equity be effected?
Is there anyone who would know the correct advice?

I will answer as many questions as possible as i know this is an awkward case with much baggage attatched to it.

Please assist as much as you can

Head in hands Zofo

wok_boy

Hi there and welcome to MSE.

Some one with more knowledge will be along to advise you soon enough

RAS

Was ther any equity in the house?

Who has bought the beneficial interest from the OR?

Zofo1000

RAS wrote: »

Was ther any equity in the house?


Who has bought the beneficial interest from the OR?

There is plenty of equity in the property.
I have no idea what that means so i have no answer to that question im afraid.
Sorry its a bit vague.

Zofo

Debt_Free_Chick

Zofo1000 wrote: »

I have no idea what that means so i have no answer to that question im afraid.
Sorry its a bit vague.

Zofo

Equity is the value of the property in excess of the outstanding mortgage .... so if the property is worth £200k and the mortgage is £120k, you have equity of £80k.

Beneficial interest is your ex-wife's share of the equity. This is an asset which the Official Receiver now owns and the OR is entitled to use it to pay off her debts. However, someone else e.g. you, can offer to buy the beneficial interest from the OR. In which case, you give the OR money for it and the OR uses that money to pay towards your ex-wife's debts.

Debt_Free_Chick

Zofo1000 wrote: »

My questions are: how can she still be running her business?

Because she is still entitled to earn a living in order to pay the bills - and if she's earning money, the OR can take some of it to pay towards her debts.

Is she a sole trader or a director of a limited company? She can be disqualified from being a director, but still earn a living from the business as an employee.

How can she still be driving around in her car on hp?

A number of possible reasons. Either the OR hasn't yet siezed it or your ex-wife has not revealed it to the OR as an asset. Or perhaps someone paid off the debt? or she came to a deal with the OR?

Will my half of the equity be effected?

No, the OR can only use her share of the equity (her beneficial interest, but see previous reply).

Who's been paying the mortgage?

charmed-imsure

I'm interested in this thread as my partners ex wife went bankrupt in June this yr and left him with all sorts of issues as they had joint loans. She was stripped of any assets including her contract mobile phone and even her computer (as she only used it for recreational purposes, it wasn't vital to her job). I'm surprised your ex wife is allowed to be running a busness & the only thing I can think of is that she hasn't declared it & as far as I'm aware this is illegal. A car on HP too - she may not have declared that either... When she went bankrupt an advert would've been placed in the local paper about it inviting any creditors to contact the official receiver. We found out who my ex's official receiver was and I'm not sure how data protection stands in this case but they were extremely helpful with any questions we had. Except obtaining an address because she fled!

Zofo1000

Debt_Free_Chick wrote: »

Equity is the value of the property in excess of the outstanding mortgage .... so if the property is worth £200k and the mortgage is £120k, you have equity of £80k.

Beneficial interest is your ex-wife's share of the equity. This is an asset which the Official Receiver now owns and the OR is entitled to use it to pay off her debts. However, someone else e.g. you, can offer to buy the beneficial interest from the OR. In which case, you give the OR money for it and the OR uses that money to pay towards your ex-wife's debts.

I have had no contact directly with the Insolvency Practitioner so i have no knowledge of what is to happen or happening.
Zofo

Zofo1000

Debt_Free_Chick wrote: »

Because she is still entitled to earn a living in order to pay the bills - and if she's earning money, the OR can take some of it to pay towards her debts.

Is she a sole trader or a director of a limited company? She can be disqualified from being a director, but still earn a living from the business as an employee.



A number of possible reasons. Either the OR hasn't yet siezed it or your ex-wife has not revealed it to the OR as an asset. Or perhaps someone paid off the debt? or she came to a deal with the OR?



No, the OR can only use her share of the equity (her beneficial interest, but see previous reply).

Who's been paying the mortgage?

I have no idea who is paying if at all the mortgage, although the children have told me that until they have an eviction notice, the council cannot re-house them.

Zofo

Debt_Free_Chick

Zofo1000 wrote: »

I have had no contact directly with the Insolvency Practitioner so i have no knowledge of what is to happen or happening.
Zofo

It's up to you to make an offer for your ex-wife's beneficial interest, if you are able to and want to. The IP won't contact you about it. Of course, your ex could ask someone else to buy it.

I asked about the mortgage in view of your earlier comment ...

since losing my business i have done everything in my power to stop going bankrupt so the children can stay in the family home

as it sounded as though you might have been paying the mortgage.

If she's still working, perhaps she is able to pay the mortgage anyway

What are your commitments under the divorce? Do you pay anything to her/children?

Zofo1000

charmed-imsure wrote: »

I'm interested in this thread as my partners ex wife went bankrupt in June this yr and left him with all sorts of issues as they had joint loans. She was stripped of any assets including her contract mobile phone and even her computer (as she only used it for recreational purposes, it wasn't vital to her job). I'm surprised your ex wife is allowed to be running a busness & the only thing I can think of is that she hasn't declared it & as far as I'm aware this is illegal. A car on HP too - she may not have declared that either... When she went bankrupt an advert would've been placed in the local paper about it inviting any creditors to contact the official receiver. We found out who my ex's official receiver was and I'm not sure how data protection stands in this case but they were extremely helpful with any questions we had. Except obtaining an address because she fled!

She runs a shop and has done for many many years now and the car was obtained only months before she went bankrupt, even though only a couple of weeks previous to that a court order was made with her to agree to buying me out at a low amount so that she and the kids could keep the house.

What a mess

Zofo