Depressed and in urgent need for advice

DavidDAM

Hi all,

Hope you all had a great Christmas.

I’m sorry to bring the mood down but I am in desperate need of advice.

I am going to be completely honest and upfront about my situation so please do your best to refrain from judging me.

I was declared bankrupt in early December 2019 - just 4 weeks ago. This was as a result of me accumulating debt - a lot of it was due to gambling.

Everything hit a head this year. My son was diagnosed with a serious illness and my mum who was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer (2 years ago) was in a very bad way and given weeks to live. She continues to be in a bad way. I became depressed and wanted an escape and saw gambling as being an out.

I also lost my job and was heavily in debt and without any means to pay it. I was depressed and was strongly advised to go bankrupt due to not having any assets and start fresh.

I am doing by my best to pick myself up and being a respected figure in my industry, have been offered a new job role.

I am behind on child maintenance payments to my previous 2 ex partners (have 3 children with one and 1 child with the other). I also owe money to my sister who desperately requires the money back. I am trying to salvage any relationship I can have with my children and my sister hence my wanting to go back to work to pay despite not being well enough to do so. I desperately want to repay back my debts to them.

However I am concerned about any possible IPA.

I have a few questions -

My child maintenance payments are £2400 in total to both partners. I was previously paying my sister £1100 per month to clear the debt I owed her.

I am currently behind by 3 months and counting on payments due on child maintenance and my sister (currently £10,500)

My income, if I take the job is £4900 after tax.

My monthly expenses are roughly the following -
Child maintenance £2400
Money owed to sister £1100
Rent £900
Household expenses £140
Insurance and healthcare - £200
Food and housekeeping - £350
Transport and travel - £190 (I am registered disabled (mobility issues - so fuel costs are very high)
Personal and leisure - £200

I also pay additional money towards creams, ointments and pain medication for my disability. I also owe a friend money and haven’t listed that down in the expenses. I haven’t included lunch if I was to start a new job and haven’t included things like increased travel expenses which will happen with a potential new job.

Will the OR accept my the expenses of £2400 child maintenance and £1100 monthly loan. I have been paying this for a while.

Secondly - because I am Potentially starting a new Job AFTER being declared bankrupt, will my tax code still be NIL?

I have zero savings so will also require a small amount of money for an emergency. I am thinking I will need to cover my mums funeral and also costs to travel to my son when he is unwell - it is a lifelong condition so he will constantly be in and out of hospital.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thank you

D

DavidDAM

Any advice would be much welcomed. Appreciate the post is long and happy to answer any questions to clarify things

Caz3121

Payment to your sister would not be allowed in budget
Is the child maintenance by court order?

DavidDAM

No it’s not. The child maintenance has been agreed mutually without a court order.

DavidDAM

From the calculator on the government website, it suggests I pay £1200 in total but I have always paid more.

JCS1

The loan from your sister will be included in your bankruptcy, sorry.

DavidDAM

Thank you for letting me know. I don’t know what to do. My relationship with my sister will be ruined forever if I have no means to pay her back (if the official receiver sets up a IPA and takes any surplus income. Is there no way to solve this.

Also, will her official receiver accept that I have always been paying above and beyond what I am legally obliged to pay on child maintenance costs?

in_my_wellies

Do you rent a whole house or just a room? If a whole house could you think about renting out a spare room? It could provide some money for your sister or to build up an emergency fund

DavidDAM

I currently rent a room but plan to rent a flat when I start working. Can the official receiver not question why I am renting a 2 bedroom flat if that is what I decide to rent?

If not, then it is an idea I could Pursue. My relationship with my family is going to severely strained and this option allows me to prevent that and pay her back.

DavidDAM

Currently I live with my parents due to not having a job and any income. However, when I start working I plan to move out and rent a flat.

A couple of questions - how soon after I begin work does an IPA be put into place? I ask, as I will need to be paid first before being able to secure a flat and then adding it to my expenses.

benbay001

Renting a room rather than a whole property is a great way to cut living expenses whilst you get everything back on track.

I spent 4 years in shared accommodation and had a great time. No bills, no cleaning and people around to speak to if you want.

The least i paid was £400, the most was £550 (all bills included, in the south east)

A significant number of my housemates were middle aged if that is something that concerns you?