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Have a look at the experts who post here and get in touch with then. However hard you think things are for you right now we have all been in the same position for various different reasons.

Once you speak to experts, find out what your options are you immediately feel a sense of relief. the next thing your do here should be to click the contact link for the guys on this site.

All the best

Hi Stevies1980,

Welcome to the forum and well done on taking steps to try and deal with your financial difficulties as often this can be a hard decision to make.

First all the positive thing is that you will have solutions to your problems.

In terms of your wife being affected, this would only happen if you had joint debt together or your wife had debt in her name and she had to consider a Trust Deed. Is any of the £26,000 joint with you wife or does she have debt in her name?

If the car is on finance sometimes there can be a clause in the agreement whereby if someone enters into Insolvency Proceedings i.e. a Trust Deed or Sequestration the finance company can look to recover the car. Recently we heard of a case on the forum where the finance company threatened to take the car back but seen sense and decided against it. It doesn't make sense for the finance company to take the car back as they will lose out on the monthly payments and the likelihood is that they would be owed money.

Often people think that the finance is secured against the vehicle when actually it's just a personal loan. The first thing to do is check what type of finance it is. You can tell this by looking at the top of the agreement and in the box where your wife signed. It should tell you if it's hire purchase, a conditional sale agreement or a personal loan. Have a look if you have it handy and let us know.

Generally though there is no problem with vehicles and your wife should be able to continue with the payments and keep the vehicle but these checks should be carried out by a good advisor.

A Trust Deed, Sequestration or even a Debt Arrangement Scheme may all be suitable options for you or both of you to consider. We always advise clients to sit down in person with an advisor or two, work through your full financial situation to establish what options you have available and then decide to proceed from there. The most important thing is to receive in writing exactly how your plan(s) will work i.e. payment per month, the timescale and what will happen with any assets (car).

As I said though, the positive thing is that you have solutions to help deal with the financial difficulties.

Hi David, all the debt is in my name only, my wife has only around £2000 in her name not including the car finance, would that affect anything? She would not be looking to enter a trust deed, we also have no joint accounts or debts. Don't think sequestration would be an option due to my job but have been advise entering a trust deed would have no affect.

Hi Stevies1980

I don't see the car being an issue for you as there is a £3k limit, so if the car falls below this value, then it is excluded.

Your wife's income would be taken into account, but only in the calculation of the household income and expenditure and obviously she is allocated her own monthly expenses. Whatever option will have no effect on your wife's car whatsoever and she will continue to use/pay this as normal.

It is always best advise to look at all options and talk these through. Then get everything agreed and confirmed in writing, that way you have something you can review in your own time before making any decision.

Mark

Thanks Mark, looks like its time to get some info together over the weekend and start speaking to a few people. Oh I forgot to mention my wife sometimes gets overtime but this is not guaranteed all the time, how would this affect things?

Hello Stevies1980.

Your wife would only be expected to pay a reasonable share of the joint household expenditure from her income.

It's tough to base that calculation on non-guaranteed or sporadic overtime so this might not be a factor at all in these circumstances.

Hi Stevies1980

Unless it a material amount, it's unlikely to have any effect on things. The income and expenditure is calculated on joint income/expenditure, however the Trust deed should not, in any way prohibit your wife working extra hours and getting additional income.

Once the income and expenditure and creditors list/approximate balances are available, it fairly straightforward to see what options work. It's then up to you to decide which works best for you.

Mark

Hi Stevies1980,

If your wife only has £2,000 of debt then she wouldn't be suitable for a Trust Deed and I assume she would be happy to manage this herself.

In terms of your job, a good knowledgeable advisor will be able to give you guidance on this. You would need to be comfortable and confident that a Trust Deed would not impact on your job. Rarely nowadays though does a Trust Deed have an impact.

There would be no problem with your wife's overtime as this isn't guaranteed and is not something we would look to take into consideration. It would only be any overtime or bonuses that you earned that we would review.

The forum is excellent to doing your own research. I find you can get lost for a couple of hours reading back over previous posts and people comments and problems. Take your time and make a list of questions to ask an advisor and don't feel like you need to rush things.