Five years ago my sister separated from her husband when she discovered he had accumulated excessive debts (all in his name) without her knowledge. All their joint savings had gone & their house was sold to pay off as much of the debt as possible. Her husband subsequently took out an IVA towards the end of 2011 to settle the remaining debt. My sister was a stay at home Mum for the 26 years of their marriage & the only remaining asset is his private pension fund, a portion of which she understands she is entitled to claim. My sister now wants a divorce and is unsure if it�s preferable to initiate proceedings whilst the IVA is still in force or wait until it has expired. Can anyone provide any advice?
No idea I'm afraid but would suggest your sister seeks some advice either from a solicitor or CAB.
Sharing from experiences of dealing with debt
The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively.
Bob Marley. http://kallis3.blogs.iva.co.uk
Again, I would suggest a visit to CAB . But. on the IVA front, it should only have a few more months to run so might be safer to wait -- just one more unneeded complication to an already messy situation.
My opinions are merely that .. opinions based on experience. Always seek professional advice.
IVA Completed 23rd July 2013 .... C.C. 10th January 2014
Yours sisters actions might have an impact on her husband's IVA but the existing IVA shouldn't make a difference to her actions...
i.e if the Court finds she is entitled to an asset that has been promised to the IVA estate that will be a problem for the husband to deal with and could result in a breach/failure of his IVA (which I presume your sister is not concerned about?)
If the Court grants an order in her favour, whether or not that will have any relevance to the IVA depends on whether the pension was excluded or not and the terms of the Court Order.
Also what is the state of the pension - has it been drawn down? does her husband receive annuities that he relies upon to make his IVA contributions? Is a lump sum available etc?
Presumably your sister has a claim in the IVA and has been included as a creditor in which case she can look at the original proposals and any modifications to see how the pension is to be treated but I can only think of negative implications for the husband if he losses his asset but not to your sister.
There could be an allegation in the future that she has received an asset at an undervalue but if this is based on a Court Order it is highly likely to be challenged and indeed overturn able.
She might want to ask her divorce lawyer if he has a colleague that specialises in insolvency and run this past them in case I have missed something.
