Nope, once you have completed and posted your application the AIB will process if pretty quickly.

£30,000 is obviously quite a lot of money but I would say it's just the normal amount of debt for someone to have so try not to beat yourself up too much about it. When I first started giving debt advice over 10 years ago I'd look at their financial situation and think how could someone get into this much debt. After years of giving debt advice and also now I've got a young family of my own, bills and responsibilities I can see that the majority of the time it's not down to anything malicious it's simply a case of trying to pay your bills and get by from day to day.

Managing a budget and money can be a difficult and a tricky problem for a lot of people. One of the first things I do with a client is sit down and work through a budget with them to understand what their financial position is like. A lot of the time the client has never really sat down and worked something like this out. Is it education and money management for kids at school that could help improve their ability to manage a budget..?! I'm not sure. I know I learned how to add and subtract, divided and multiply but no one really gave me any life skills or told me how to manage a household budget. It was doing this job from an early age that taught me that aspect.

You're not the only one out there in this situation and as I said, try not to beat yourself up about things. The positive thing is that there is a solution to help you out of the difficulties your in.

Just been checking through a few things and wonder if anyone can clarify what "Exclusion of Family Home" followed by False means - I saw this on the details of my Trust Deed on the Register of Insolvencies.

TIA

I think this probably relates to the technical possibility of setting up a trust deed where a home (with equity) is excluded from the arrangement with advance creditor consent.

Insolvency practitioners largely seem to have concluded that creditors are very unlikely to provide this consent so we don't really hear about trust deeds being set up on these terms.

Thanks TDA, I guess it doesn't really affect me given that I don't own a home!

David - I received the form today, thank you very much.

I have a question about self-employment; I am a secretary and a couple of the psychologists that I used to work for have asked me if I would like to do some work for them (a few hours a fortnight or thereabouts. Thing is for them to be able to pay me they would need to be able to offset it on their tax so I would need to be registered self-employed. Can I do that if I sequestrated? Obviously, I would have to declare the extra income if I did presumably?

Thanks again,
[:)]

There is nothing to stop you working as self-employed whilst sequestrated, jeangrey, As you rightly say, you would need to declare this extra income to your trustee, and the taxman.

Hi everyone!

This has been a very long and frustrating journey that has now hit a complete stop 🙁 I was finally discharged from my TD but this sis not show up on the record until the end of May. Then my parents found out about what was happening and looked to see if they could help me but it just wasn't possible. Now, I need to get my application submitted to AIB. I've been trying to find ways of earning extra money and managed to get my hours at work increased but this now means that my weekly earning are now £256 so above the cut off for LILA. I understand that now I will need to get a Certificate of Sequestration. Is that right? Also, with my increase in salary it looks as though I will have a small amount available for a monthly contribution (although I'm still trying to pin down our income and expenditure - am I right in understanding that although it is only me going bankrupt that my husbands income and expenditure is considered when deciding a contribution but that only a portion of available funds is used as the other portion belongs to my husband?) I'm getting really stressed now and I'm wondering if it's time to get an IP to deal with this for me or at least get some help with my Income and Expenditure?

Sorry, if that's all a bit long winded - I wanted this to be overby now and really wish that my parents had allowed me to go ahead at the end of May and this wouldn't be so much of a problem now. Hope soeone can help.

THanks,

Yes, you are likely to need a Certificate for Sequestration, jeangrey.

It is an interesting point actually as it is possible to apply for sequestration if a Trust Deed fails to achieve protection, however your Trust Deed did achieve protection originally so I don't think would fall under this criterion. (Though I may be wrong, as I guess the Accountant in Bankruptcy may interpret this differently). Best to have a Certificate to be on the safe side - which means either a trip to a money advice agency or to an insolvency practitioner.

Your descripton of how any contribution would be worked out is correct. Your husband's income matters in so much as he would be expected to shoulder his fair share of the joint household bills, therefore potentially meaning you have some disposable income to contribute towards your debts.

Feel free to contact any of the experts here if you want to run through your income/expenditure figures, we are always happy to help!

Thanks Kevin. It would be really good to have someone look over it. It's been hard to put together because some things don't happen every month but after trawling through the bank statements I finally have something in black and white. Phew - it's not pretty!!

Hi David, I noticed at the start of this conversation that u offered to send out a sequestration pack and some information on a lila. Is there any chance u could do the same for me so I can have a close look to see if a lila would be a realistic option for me.

Thanks

Hi Alison,

If you click the contact David button and provide me with your full name and address I'll organise for this to be sent out to you.

Once you have received it you can then give me a call if you have any questions and I can assist you from there with the completion of it if need be.

Is there anything that you would like to ask at the moment?

Thanks David, I am currently in a PTD but things are getting worse. I've been in contact with my trustee who is supposed to be looking at my finances again but haven't heard from her since I sent my paperwork in. I'll have a look at the lila paperwork when I get it and hopefully can have it all ready to post away when if ever my trustee relieves me. Life is looking very dark right now and I don't know we're to turn too, i feel suffocated and don't really know how much more I can take. Have u ever had anyone who can't deal with the PTD? Have u ever had to cancel a trust deed because the client can't pay? I'm so confused and frustrated, all my trustee has said is that she'll look at it but of course she can't guarantee nothing and I could be stuck in this PTD that I cannot afford....any advice would be greatly appreciated...thanks alison

Hi Alison,

I got your email with your contact details. An application pack along with information on Sequestration will be posted to you today.

When did you send in your paperwork for them to review?

Try not to feel like you have nowhere to turn for help. I'm happy to give you advice and information and I'm sure a lot of other people on the forum will be happy to help you also.

If your unable to afford a suitable contribution to your Trust Deed and you can demonstrate this to your Trustee then they can consider resigning from office and you can then going down the Sequestration route. From time to time we have clients who are unable to support their agreed payment or even a reduced payment to their Trust Deed and we will resign from office and give them assistance to enter Sequestration. There is no point in your Trustee keeping you in the Trust Deed if you simply cannot afford to make a payment to it.

Sequestration is a relatively straight forward process and usually isn't anywhere near as bad as people think. A new income and expenditure would be completed with you to see what you could afford to pay.

In order to get into Sequestration under the LILA Scheme you would need to qualify. Low income means gross weekly income of no more than the standard national minimum wage for a forty hour working week which is £247.60 at the moment. Low asset means You also can't own your own house or have a single asset worth more than £1,000. If you earn more than that or have assets then you would need a certificate for Sequestration signed. This can be done by an Insolvency Practitioner or some local citizens advice.

I know this may seem like a lot to take in and try to deal with on your own but as I said it's relatively straight forward process and we can guide you through it.

Once you have received the information from me if you have any questions you can give me a call ÔÇô my contact details will be in with the paperwork.

Well..........it's been over a year since I posted here and finally things are looking up. Thanks so much to everyone for your advice and especially to David Tannock for helping me get everything sorted. As of 17th March 2015 I am officially bankrupt and the relief is huge!!! My only regret is that I didn't ask him to help me at the time and tried to do it on my own - if I had I'd probably be discharged by now! I can't recommend Wylie & Bissett enough.

After years in debt I can finally see light at the end of the tunnel and it feels good!!!

Thanks again. [:D]

Hi jeangrey.

Just reading back over your posts at the start of this thread I can see that things have moved a long way forwards for you, even if it has taken a little time.

Well done on making this progress. It's also great to hear that David and his colleagues have been such a good source of support in helping you to make this happen.

Hi jeangrey,

I can't quite believe it was over a year since your first post on here about advice and help.

It may sound a little strange for people reading this when you say being declared bankrupt is a huge relief but for the right reason and circumstances it is a very effective way to deal with unmanageable debts.

Everyone always feels like the wish they had spoken with someone sooner about their debts and I guess that's the benefit of hindsight. I think that when people actually take the decision to speak with someone and allow them to help is the point they are actually ready for this help. Try not to look back and beat yourself up too much.

The good thing is we got your Sequestration through before the changes, you will be discharged this time next year and you will only need to make 36 payments instead of 48.

Thanks also for the positive feedback and kind words!

You have my details and know where I am if you have any problems with creditors.