bankcruptcy and living with husband

dryder77

I got in touch with stepchange and they advised bankcruptcy.  

I have personal debt of around £17000 and a car on HP.

I live with my husband and children in a house that husband owns and pays the mortgage and he paid the deposit.  I have not paid toweards repairs/maintenance.  I pay towards the utilities and food etc.

I have spoken to both stepchange and citizens advice about if I have beneficial interest and none can advise.  I do not want to put the home at risk and I do not know how to move forwards with this and any advice would be appreciated.

Stepchange told me to pay bankcruptcy in installments, when a insolvency prac would then contact me and then if the house was at risk to withdraw my application before the last installment, however this does not appear to be the case as the full £680 has to be paid before applying.

Brie

Did Stepchange discuss any other options - even if they said they weren't appropriate? 

I'm wondering if a DRO might be possible if you do not own the house you live in.  (aka it's completely in your husband's name).  But it's hard to say given that there are few details about your situation.

What about a debt management plan?  Again more details would be required.

RAS

@fatbelly This seems odd? DMP?

dryder77

Hi Brie.

They said the DRO wasnt possible as I have zero disposable income left.  A debt management plan wasnt explored.

fatbelly

This does sound odd. The qualifying criteria for a DRO are

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/debt-and-money/debt-solutions/debt-relief-orders/debt-relief-orders-explained/debt-relief-orders-what-you-need-to-know/

As zero is less than £75, you qualify on surplus income grounds.

I am surprised they recommended bankruptcy as advisers are notoriously cautious about beneficial interest. If they are confident about zero bi then a dro is an option.

Maybe try Money Wellness

dryder77

Thank you @fatbelly.  Does a DRO take your husbands property as your beneficial interest if I pay utilities do you iknow at all please?

To be honest I have had two lots of information from stepchange both have been incorrect.

dryder77

Also @fatbelly my income would have some left over without paying my debts each month.  I think a DRO only applies if you have less than £75 when paying household expenses only?

fatbelly

You said you had zero disposable income. Now you say you have some left over. How much?

A DRO does not take anything but your assets must be less than 4k to qualify

You are clearly struggling with this. Could you produce a joint statement of affairs so we can see what is going on?

https://www.lemonfool.co.uk/financecalculators/soa.php