Hi weeyin.

This will be a situation that your Trustee has dealt with many times before and I'd suggest that you get in touch with them to discuss the possibilities. They have discretion to handle such situations in the best interests of creditors and yourself.

It may be that a reduction in your trust deed payment, or a suspension of your payments altogether, is considered to be acceptable in the circumstances (assuming you intend to return to work later).

You will want to confirm whether your trust deed will be extended in order to make up any missed or reduced payments. This is probably quite likely.

thanks for that - yes definately intend to go back to work next year - can't afford not too! also I havent told them that I have a new job and have moved address - my salary is about £140 more a month but this is used up with the increase in rent and bills i have to pay now I am in a bigger house, if I declare this will they ask for more money from me until I am on maternity allowance? also my debt management co helped me with my initial incomings and outgoings figures and to be honest I cannot remember what they put down do you think my trustee will give me a copy so I can update it all properly?

Hi again weeyin.

Your trust deed contribution is based upon what you can afford. If your expenses have increased as much as your income it shouldn't mean that you have to pay more (so long as the new levels of rent and bills aren't considered to be excessive).

It would be a good idea to keep them aware of any significant changes in your income and expenditure so that problems don't occur in the future.

There is no reason why your trustee shouldn't provide you with a copy of the figures used to work out your trust deed payment.

many thanks - i have just been so busy with the move and other stuff that i have never got round to contacting them! i am glad my wages cover the bills as it would be tough if they didn't! thanks for your help I will give my trustee a call to inform them of my current status and provide them with the updated income and outgoings

Congratz on the pregnancy,life must carry on whether you are in a trust deed or not. Let your trustee know of any changes in circumstances(job income baby etc etc),they are there to help you as best they can,but can only help if they know there is an issue to solve.

Good luck.

Paul

Following along these lines - I have a protected trust deed which I paid for 2 years. The trustees agreed to freeze the payments while I am on maternity leave. We have been working out childcare costs etc and I wouldn't actually be making any money by going back to work as my entire salary would go on childcare costs.

I am therefore thinking of not returning to work. Can anyone advise on what would happen with my trust deed? Thanks

Welcome to the trust deed forum woobywoo12.

It's a tough one to answer as a trustee has some discretion in these things.

The best case scenario is that your trustee decides that you've done what you can and brings your trust deed to an end and discharges you from your debts.
It's also possible that the trustee determines that the deal creditors agreed to hasn't been delivered and therefore the trust deed is ended without you being discharged from your debts. If you're a homeowner with equity (or other significant assets) there could be additional problems.

The real answer to the question is that you'll need to get in touch with your trust deed firm to explain your dilemma. Ask them to spell out what would happen if you informed them that no further contributions were possible given your current position.

hi woobywoo12,

Quoting from the Form 5 (Letter of Discharge od Debtor) The Trustee must "to the best of my knowledge the debtor has met his/her obligations under the Trust Deed"

Section 19 of the 2008 Trust Deed Regulations "a debtor will be discharged from all debts and obligations contracted by him, or for which he was liable at the date that the Trust Deed was granted, if the following conditions are met:

a. The Trustee makes a statement that to the best of his/her knowledge the debtor has met his/her obligations under the Trust Deed.

So TDA is right to say the answer will be in contacting the Trustee to explain the situation

Chris

Are you looking at returning to work part-time, woobywoo12? Surely not all of your earnings would be eaten up by extra childacre costs? - and you may qualify for some tax credits too.

Thank you all for your responses. I will get in touch with my TD company.

I am looking at part time and currently speaking to my employer to see if this would be an option. Childcare (nurseries in particular) in our area is quite pricey. The ones we've looked at are around £45 a day. My husband earns 30k a year and one of our friends thought he may earn too much for us to qualify for help. My salary was 17k for a 40 hour week and I'm not sure how many hours my employer would want me to do if working part time.

Where could I get advice about what we may be entitled to? Could I contact HMRC without committing to anything?

Thank you again for all your comments.

Hi Woobywoo12,

Sorry to hear about your dilemna and I hope you get this all sorted out.

I had a baby myself nearly a year ago now (God time flies by) and albeit not in my TD anymore we had the same problem, my boyfriends wage eaten up by childcare costs.

You can go online and put in your figures via the HMRC website to see what you would be entitled too (you can base this on working full time and then input rough figures for if you work part time).

I earn approx 20k and my boyfriend earns approx 14k and we are not entitled to any credits and I think it worked out about £80pm towards childcare.

Hope this helps

Here's a link to the site

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/taxcredits/payments-entitlement/entitlement/index.htm

HMRC would be able to give you projections, though I've a feeling you may may earn too much as a couple to qualify for tax credits - or if you do qualify it would be a fairly small entitlement. Their website has tables that are quite useful for rough calculations.

£45 a day is certainly expensive - are there no cheaper options? If not then I can see why you might feel it is hardly worth working. However, it would be a real shame if your trust deed was terminated without you being discharged from your debts, given that you have already paid in for 2 years.

Yes, I'm afraid that's pretty standard from what I've seen in Edinburgh. There are some cheaper options but we've ruled them out after visits and just felt we couldn't leave our baby there.

I will get in touch with my TD company and get their advice.

I'm in the same boat with the maternity issues.

I am 13 months into my Trust Deed and I am currently on maternity pay. My work pay me 6 month full pay, 3 months half pay and then 3 months with no pay.

I have not missed a payment yet and my payments are currently getting reviewed as I have just gone to half pay. Do you think there would be a chance that my Trust Deed could get frozen?

thanks