Hi Rickie

Has the Trustee been discharged?

Mark

Good question. How would i know?

I have the form 5 Letter of discharge of Debtor. I assume this is what you are referring to?

Hi Rickie1,

The Form 5 if your individual discharge. Your Trustee also needs to be discharged and this is separate from your Form 5.

You can find this out by looking on the ÔÇ£Register of InsolvenciesÔÇØ which can be found on the ÔÇ£Accountant in BankruptcyÔÇØ website. If you put your name into this and search it will bring up details of your Trust Deed and will show if your Trustee has been discharged. If there isn't a date under ÔÇ£Trustee Discharge DateÔÇØ then you Trustee is still in office.

If your Trustee is still in place and hasn't been discharged then they could have a claim over your 9k inheritance.

Hi David, Checked and there is just a date for Debtor discharge date. The Trustee date is empty. How long do these usually take to discharge as a trustee?

Hi Rickie1,

It's hard for me to really give an indication of how long it will take for your Trustee to seek their discharge.

The common delay at the moment is investigations into PPI. Cases can be delayed by months/years for these investigations to be completed.

You will need to contact your Trustee and ask them when they expect to close your case and receive their discharge.

When did you become aware that you could be due inheritance? Is it as a result of someone passing away that you not stand to receive it?

If you have been discharged for some time and the inheritance is something which has only recently came about then your Trustee shouldn't be able to make a claim over it. It's only something which existed at the point before you were discharged or something which should have been included that they can claim into your Trust Deed.

Hi Rickie1

The inheritance would be classed as acqirenda which in effect is a new assets discovered during the period of the Trust Deed or sequestration.

The key point in the legislation is that the Trustee's right to any acquirenda ceases on your discharge rather than the trustee's own discharge. I'm not sure a Trustee could argue that this is like PPI where the 'funds' are a potential pre sequestration assets and work.

Mark

Hi, Its actually my father in law. Obviously my wife has/had a Trust deed as well, but she was released in January this year.
So basically there is potential to have these funds seized for the creditors?
What if i don't cash the cheque anytime soon?

Hi Rickie1,

At what point did you become entitled to this inheritance? Was it quite recently?

There is a legal obligation to notify the Trustee of any funds received or about to be recived, although this is limited to funds which were payable before your/your wife's discharge if she is the one named in the inheritance.

I suspect the key date is the date your Father in Law passed away. This would be the date the inheritance crystalised to be payable to the people named in the will. If the discharge took place prior to this date, then there should be no issue.

Mark

Father in law passed away about 8 weeks ago. Inheritance in post to us as we speak.

Hi Rickie

As this post dates the discharge, I don't see how the Trustee can have any claim on this.

Mark

Hi Rickie1,

I can't see the Trustee having a claim over the funds which is good for you both.

Excellent news, and many thanks for the advice... in this case just what i wanted to hear. Your help and advice is much appreciated. Thanks guys!