Ex wife goes bankrupt!! Joint mortgage, please help

Zofo1000

Debt_Free_Chick wrote: »

OK, I see now.

I assume she's not bought you out - in which case "all bets are off" as she can't raise new credit to do that now.

In addition, if she can't meet the mortgage repayments, then responsibility for this falls to you.

Would your maintenance cover the mortgage?

Could you sell and then buy a smaller property for them?

She would rather deal with the devil than myself.
She wants to play the marter in all this.

RAS

Ditto
This is far too messy.

Although it would be useful to know the outcome.

i would contact the OR promptly however so they know there might be an issue.

And I am not sure whether this is an area in which most solicitors would have knowledge, so it might be wise to gt a new one?

Zofo1000

charmed-imsure wrote: »

(I'm still a bit confused over how she's allowed to keep running the business???)

Me too??

Debt_Free_Chick

charmed-imsure wrote: »

(I'm still a bit confused over how she's allowed to keep running the business???)

Because bankrupts are allowed to earn a living. Indeed they need to earn a living for two very important reasons ....


1. To "exist" i.e. live, eat and feed & clothe their family

and

2. To have money to pay to the OR so the OR can use that to pay off some of their debts.

It's a myth that your debts are "simply written off". Yes, all the credit agreements are terminated, but the OR then takes your assets and a proportion of your earnings to part-pay off the debts.

There is no point in preventing bankrupts from earning a living as it would mean that they fail to pay anything at all towards their debts and they would then further increase the "debt to society" as they would need to claim benefits in order to live.

The only disqualification is that of being a Director of a company - and certain professions where you are disbarred e.g. solicitor, accountant, IFA etc if you are bankrupt. Generally, these are positions where you could be responsible for managing clients' money.

Zofo1000

blind-as-a-bat wrote: »

well that clouds the issue even further can i take it the settlemant agreed by the court order was never paid? And have you ever signed anything saying you no longer have any BI in the house (i hope not if you havnt recieved any money)

Believe or not, the papers were signed on the Friday and the ex went bankrupt on the Monday.
Apparently the papers didnt arrive to her solicitors in time and they didnt even know that she had gone bankrupt, my solicitor had to tell them.

Get better huh?

Zofo1000

As this is such a complicated mess, does anyone know who to contact to get concrete advice?

Zofo

Debt_Free_Chick

OK - quick version of bankruptcy.

You go to Court and tell them you can't pay off your debts.

Court says "OK - the Official Receiver will cancel all your credit agreements so they are no longer relevant. The OR will then become the owner of your assets, sell those assets and then use the proceeds to pay off what they can, from your debts. If you work, then the OR will also take any of your excess income for a certain period of time and use this to pay towards your debts".

Your excess income is what's left over from your salary, after you've paid your bills e.g. rent, Council Tax, food etc. The OR will scrutinise your bills are get you to cut them back to a reasonable amount - so you can't be spending £800 a month in Harrods for your food !!! :rotfl: The OR will set you a budget that is reasonable and achievable (and in many cases, you can shop for less than the OR sets).

Once your budget is reasonable, if you have excess income, the OR will ask you to agree to an Income Payments Order, so that you give a large part of your excess, each month, to the OR for .....??? About 12 months.

You don't get off scot-free if you can earn a living and have money left over, after you've paid your bills - you get to pay something towards your debts.

If bankrupts were required to give up work, then they would be claiming benefits - in addition to not paying anything towards their debts.

So ... you can still work - and even run a business - if you are bankrupt. You can not, however, be a Director (which is different to "running a business") if you are a bankrupt. And some professions will not allow you to practice, so you may have to find other work.

Debt_Free_Chick

Zofo1000 wrote: »

As this is such a complicated mess, does anyone know who to contact to get concrete advice?

Zofo

Go back to your divorce lawyer first - not least, as your wife has failed to comply with the Court Order and her circumstances have materially changed.

Contact the OR and let them know about your beneficial interest in the property - can you afford to buy your ex's beneficial interest?

Contact one of the free debt counselling agencies - my advice would be National Debtline as they give general advice, whilst Payplan & CCCS are primarily aimed at those who have trouble paying their debts. Link at the top of this page.

charmed-imsure

Debt Free Chick thanks for the clarification. I was always under the impression that anyone who went bankrupt can only be an employee, and not allowed to be a director of a company or a proprietor. I get it now!!!

Zofo1000

What a great bunch you lot are

Full of great advice and also you have put a lot of my fears to rest.

Zofo