Hi Sammy20

I am sorry to hear of your change in circumstances. Bankruptcy may be a better option, and you do not automatically lose your house. In any form of insolvency, your Trustee looks at your assets and contributions as 2 seperate things. If there is no equity, then there is no reason to sell your house. The Trustee would require a third party to pay a nominal sum to purchase his/her interest in your house. Depending on your disposable income, you may be ble to nominate a Trustee, or you may have to use the Accountant in Bankruotcy as your Trustee. As always, get everyting regarding your house in writing.

Thanks for your reply Shona. If we couldnt appoint a trustee how do we go about using the AIB - is it through citizens advice and would this take much longer ? Also are bonuses never taken into account for income purposes in either trust deed or bankruptcy cases?

Hi sammy20

The AIB are automatically appointed in the petition if there is no ip nomination.

There should be no time difference in either and bonuses would be looked at re contributions.

One last thing, the IP should be petitioning for sequestration, not you or the CAB.

Mark

Thanks Mark,sorry , im not very good at explaining myself - i think i mean how do i get an ip to petition for me. If im not paying a contribution , i assume the usual companies would not be interested as we wouldnt be paying a fee. If we need CAB for this does this mean waiting on a list for an appt thus taking longer to arrange. Im really nervous about the phone calls from creditors and would want to sort asap. The question on bonus was really regarding trust deeds. I was wanting to be sure that bonuses couldnt be taken into account when calculating monthly contributions (i no they will ultimately be paid to the trustee either partially or in total.) This is the reason my partners trust deed is not going ahead much to our disappointment- He doesnt receive a fixed sum every month but over the year last year received about £5000. Thanks for any advice

Hi sammy20.

Could you just clarify whether you have signed trust deeds which are no longer viable, or whether you were soon to sign trust deeds but they're no longer an option due to the change in circumstances?

Readings Mark's and Shona's replies I think each may have assumed that you're in a slightly different position currently.

sorry !! - We were on the verge of signing trust deeds and have overnight lost our disposable income. We think sequestration is the only way ahead but we dont think the company we were dealing with will be able to help now as there will be no contributions to pay any fees to them (unless we can reduce our expenditure even further !). I think i was clutching at straws that the bonus payments could be accepted as a contribution for a trust deed for my husband with me going for sequestration.

Hi sammy20.

I dont think it would be sensible to rely on non-guaranteed income to fund a trust deed and doubt that a trust deed firm would want to proceed on that basis.

As such you may wish to visit the website of the Accountant in Bankruptcy where you'll be able to read more about how to start the process of applying for your bankruptcy.

From what you have written it would seem that the most likely "route" to bankruptcy for you (if bankruptcy is the route that you choose to take) will be initially to get a "Certificate for Sequestration". You can read a little more about that here also at:

http://www.trust-deed.co.uk/certificateforsequestration.php

Hi sammy20

As mark & TDA say, any bonuses are taken into account, but cannot be relied on as guaranteed income. If you want to give us an idea of where you live ( just the area) I could point you in the direction of a Money Advise Service who would be able o help you with the forms ( for free) and give you a Certificate for Sequestration, which you will possibly require.

We have moved on since the last post and are nearing the point of signing our sequestration papers. Just got a few nagging doubts now and would be grateful for your thoughts. We have been told that we both have to pay(or 3rd party) £500 each to buy back any interest in our property. I asked if we got this in writing and was told we didnt need it cos it was normal sequestration procedure. Also asked when we had to go in for a meeting and was told we didnt need to and that the papers would be sent out to us. From reading various posts it is always pointed out about face to face meetings and getting things in writing. The person in the company im dealing with always tells me that im overcomplicating things, and not to worry but i do worry. I'm not sure if its different for sequestration and that things are more set in stone and that it doesnt matter what company you go with. Also the woman im dealing with does seem ok and i worry that if we go direct through the AIB we may get someone not very good. I really just wish someone could just tell us what to do for the best and get it over with -but im terrified something comes back to haunt us. Im driving my husband nuts !

Hi sammy20

Can I ask who gave you this advice? You are correct to ask the question and to have this put in writing.

The £500 is not standard procedure and the 2 x £500, even less so.

Mark

Hi Mark thanks very much for replying. I have sent an email to ur contact details on this and would b grateful for any help.

Hi Mark, I am also very interested to see you comment that this is not standard procedure.
Having more or less established Trust Deed is not likely to be an option, I found myself thinking I could not afford bankruptcy, partly due to fees and being told the IP has to be paid £1040 per property we own in negative equity - £500 each for my husband and I plus a valuation fee of £40. Assuming this has to be paid by us to a 3rd party to then pay the IP or AIB, if we had access to the sums involved we would have no difficulty paying lenders.

Hi Pamjo.

Different insolvency practitioners take a different view on this £500 charge.

If you are in a position to appoint an IP to handle a bankruptcy (because you have enough surplus income or assets to cover their fees) you can select one that will not charge this.

If you approach the AIB directly the outcome will depend upon which IP they assign the case to (according to their particular policy on this).

Thanks
I don't expect the yellow pages entry will list this as a benefit eg only £200 fees to buy out interest. LOL
Because of the very nature, most of us don't have this discussion on the bus or during our lunch break.
This forum is so helpful in that regard. Thanks to all posters!!