I think Kravvaran has made some very pertinent points Chris, I have 2 children too but are much younger, my daughter is 13 and our IVA should be concluded before she goes to university anyway, but I think the main problem is you just can't support all your children in this way, we all want what's best for our kids and want to help them as much as possible, but when you are in an IVA, your options are limited and trying to support a child through university is expensive enough even if you're not in an IVA. I think it's time your kids learned to stand on their own two feet, as you quite clearly cannot support them at the moment and you need to make them aware of that.
If your son's job is just under threat then he really shouldn't be looking at going back into higher education unless he can still continue to pay for his car and when his job actually goes, my job has been under threat for a few months now but I have come out the other side and now it's all sorted, I know Lesley has been through a similar thing.
If you hand the cars back, the shortfalls could possibly go into the IVA but only your IP can guide you on this, they may need to have another creditors meeting and they could ask for an extension of your IVA to take care of the additional debt, you won't be able to get a loan for another car in an IVA although you may be able to lease one with the consent of your IP if funds allow a lease payment. I don't know. If you just hand the cars back then yes the company will issue you with a bill for the shortfall, you would need clarification from your IP if this could be incorporated into the IVA, I'm not sure if it would as it would be a debt that occurred after the IVA started?, but aside from that, how are you then going to get to work?
Noone on here can advise you if bankruptcy is a better option for you.
Lem that was an excellent post I also have 2 children and they are both teenagers and hopefully my IVA will be completed by the time they enter Uni but my children have missed out on things but they have a better understand of Debt manangement and they are received alot of hugges and kisses to make up for the material things they have missed out on
A great post Lem. There are a lot of posts on here where parents feel guilty about not being able to give their children what they want or what we feel they deserve.
However, I think we should look at the wider picture - it's not just parents in IVA's that cannot afford to do this.
Not the same at all - I don't have kids - but when we were in the IVA I would feel jealous of my sis when she used to go shopping or they got the latest gadgets etc, and the same with friends and colleagues. However, how much of this is purchased on cards / overdrafts etc?
It's a fact of life now that children have to fund their own further education and although it's a tough kind of love Lem's advice is spot on.
With regards to bankruptcy, your IP is best placed to discuss your options and some find BR is the right step after finding out all the options available.
Good luck though - please let us know how things progress.
Most kids of my generation from the area I came from did not have much if any parental support through their further education. In my day, you went to university if you could afford to and were academically talented, and if you could not that was just the way of the world - and very few of us were fortunate to receive monies from our parents. Mine certainly could not afford it.
These days, our younger generation are educated to believe that further education is a given right, regardless of their ability or guaranteed career path - just look at the amount of unemployed graduates around at the moment. For parents this presents additional pressure, and you would be amazed at how many clients I have acted for who have taken out unaffordable loans simply to fund their children's education, to them see them unable to get on the career ladder of their choice.
I appreciate your comments, my children do appreciate what we are going through, up until we decided the IVA was the way to go, we always paid our debts, but once paid, we then used the credit cards to eat and pay fuel costs, we had not missed a payment until then. Only wish I had known there was a forum like this and others in similar positions and I would have entered into the IVA years ago, when I first was out of work. Anyway that is in the past and have to look to the future.Because I had a small bonus a year ago, which went to pay these bills, my earnings took me into the bracket that meant that my boys lost out on the student loan maintenace, which meant the student loan only just covered their accomodation charges, I have been sending them money to cover basic food costs.
We live in an area of high unemployment and by going to uni, hopefully this will give them more opportunities in the future.
I do hear what you are saying though and thank you for your comments.
