Hello engleberthumperdinck (there's something I never thought I'd write!).

Welcome to the forum.

I think you should have a debt adviser or Trust Deed expert work through those numbers with you to assess them against the expenditure criteria usually expected by creditors and used in Trust Deeds.

That process might result in a little change (either way) which would help inform you more certainly as to the options open to you and suitable for you.

There's actually no such thing as a joint trust deed, but couples often work together to enter trust deeds at the same time. More on this topic at:

https://www.trust-deed.co.uk/joint-trust-deed.html

It would appear that Trust Deeds could be an option open to you though it seems a little tight.

Hi TDA & Eng........

It certainly could be an option, however as TDA suggests, the Trust Deeds need to be seperate and £300 is pretty tight between both. Best option would be to sit down and review income & expenditure and look at the options/advice after that.

Mark

With the end now very much in sight, I thought I would come back and share my experiences for anyone trying to work out what to do.
3 years ago, my business had failed and I was struggling to keep up with my debt payments. My main worries regarding a trust deed were that I would lose my house. I had been putting off dealing with my debt for that reason alone and it was causing me no end of stress worrying about it. When I finally realised that I had to deal with situation before the choice was taken for me, I found this forum.
I posted my situation and, as he was the first to respond, I contacted Mark's firm. I arranged a meeting at his office to go through everything and discuss the options. Before the meeting I expected it would be a humiliating experience, with someone sitting in judgement of the mess I'd gotten in to. Luckily, nothing could have been further from the truth. The meeting was friendly and matter of fact with regards to the finances. There was no pressure at all to sign anything. We talked through the various options available and a trust deed was identified as the best solution. Most importantly for me, I was reassured that my home was safe as there was no equity in it.
Mark sent a summary of what we had discussed and left it up to me to decide if I wanted to proceed. I opted for the recommended Trust Deed, which became protected (as Mark said it would) and all hassle from creditors stopped. The relief I felt after arranging everything was massive.
Now, almost three years down the line the end is nigh.
I would recommend Mark's firm to anyone thinking about dealing with their financial issues. All it took was one phone call, a meeting to go through things and a meeting to sign the deed.
Maria is always available on the phone when you need to discuss anything and everything has been dealt with promptly and professionally since the start.
My only regret is that I didn't do it a lot sooner.

Welcome back engleberthumperdinck.

It's been a while! Thanks for sharing your experience here.

I'm glad that you are nearing the end of your trust deed. The story that you tell really helps to show that, if things are set up right from the start and everyone understands their responsibilities, trust deeds really can efficiently resolve a debt problem. That message may be at risk of being lost sometimes on this forum which, like all other forums, tends to attract posts when things aren't going so well.

Congratulations to you, and congratulations to Mark and his team for a job well done.

Many thanks for the kind words.

It would be interesting to find out if the time went by quickly. Normally, once the protected bit is over and done with time passes pretty quickly.

I'm really glad it worked out, you are nearing the end and the house is safe as discussed at the start. Probably the 3 most important points.

Mark

the time flew by. Can't believe it's been three years already!

I can actually remember writing "there's something I never thought I'd write!"!!

Cannot believe that was nearly three years ago.

Hi TDA

It is quite scary how quickly it goes.

I remember exactly the same post. One of those moments you write words you know you'll never write again.

Unless of course there's an Engelburt Humperdink fan forum I suppose!

Mark