Windfalls / Gifts

[lem]

I think the problem with giving you that sum of money Mitch is it's such a large amount that I think it would be expected that it would have to be paid into your IVA despite it being a gift. It's not like they afe subbing you a couple of hundred really. I think even if they gave you £1k a month then essentially that alters your income dramatically if you are going to get that every month for the next 5 years and your IVA payments will go up accordingly.

Do your parents know about your IVA? it would probably be better looking at a f&F and paying off the IVA

[mitch2311]

No they don't know. Am thinking of getting them to just buy me premium bonds with it, that is there choice if they do surely?

Regardless of size of gift, a gift is a gift whether it £1000 or £60,000

[GilliB]

If I was going to be gifted that money, I would have settled my IVA ASAP and be shot of the whole sorry situation, and rest easy being totally debt-free x

[mitch2311]

true Gill

[MelanieGiles]

Personally, I would suggest that if your parents want to gift you any sum of money, that they hold the funds in trust for you until the IVA has concluded. These funds are not a windfall, nor an after-acquired asset. Your parents can do what they like with their own windfall, but I would recommend keeping the funds out of reach until you are discharged from your debts.

[luluj]

Mitch - I agree with Melanie, get them to put into a trust fund and await the end of your IVA ....i know it may raise questions as to why you do not want it now but in the long run you will have a hefty amount of money to help start again.....they can tuck it away and earn interest on it and then you can have it once the IVA has been completed.

[Pigeonpie]

I ad a large windfall last October and I sent my IVA company a large bag of leaves

[Muggins]

Hi Mitch! I agree with gill! Do u mind if I ask will the money pay off your debt? I would def get rid of the IVA as now I have completed life is so much better! I now have a credit card again (spend a little and pay it off every month) and have just been offered a very competetive rate for a car loan which we can comfortably afford! I hated every minute of the restrictions and hard times suffered during the IVA! If u can pay it off do so, enjoy life but be sensible )

[Niobe]

I agree that I would pay off the IVA if I had such a windfall. To be free of debt would be brilliant.

[UpToMyNeckInIt]

Hi Mitch,

Firstly, sorry to hear of the double bereavement in your family.

I've read your other posts with interest, and I get the impression that you want to keep hold of as much of this windfall (when it finally becomes available) as you can get away with, so that you can get your life back on track.

I don't blame you!!! So I'm going to play devil's advocate here:

Yes, you could settle up your IVA early, but your credit file is still shot for 6 Years, so talk of getting credit again (at sensible rates anyway), is unlikely in that time.

I also like the most sensible (and legally less controversial) suggestion that your parents could 'hold this in trust' for the duration of your IVA.

However, my suggestion if you want to get your hands on the money quickly:

1). Don't mention this potential windfall to your IP;

2). By all means propose a F&F (via your parents) based on what you would have originally had to pay (£6K, less your payments to date). If the creditors don't go for it, let the IVA run its course;

2). Regardless of the outcome of the above, and certainly in the interim: Ask your parents to open up a savings account in their name, but to which you have access (the card, PIN number, internet access etc); and

3). Only once you get you completion cert, can you / your parents safely transfer the money to your account (if they do so beforehand, your IP might smell a rat!!!). Prior to that, just use it for cash withdrawals, and purchases.

Regardless of when you get this money, or how much of it you get, you might find moving difficult with credit checks etc, so suggest you use parents as guarantors (if they agree of course).

Sorry if this throws a cat among the pigeons, but I can't be the only one who thinks like this!!!

Best of luck.

[Niobe]

I would never recommend not telling your IP about this inheritance - they may very well be able to find out about it and the forum will not condone being dishonest.

You can propose a full and final but, personally speaking, I would use the money to pay off your IVA in full.

You can then hold your head up high and say that you have paid your debts either in full, or as close as.

[GilliB]

The stumbling block there though uptomyneckinit is that his parents don't know about the IVA, so how would he get around that without lying - unless he 'fesses up?' It's not a nice pill to swallow - to use the dearly departed's money to clear personal debts, and I'm sure we'd all like to walk away with 60K in our back pocket. Parents have a canny way of sussing things out, and as mine always told me "what's in the dark always comes into the light". I'm not being self-righteous, but I would still rather clear the debt. All that said, the bottom line is that it's not his inheritance, and Mel's post does provoke food for thought. x

[UpToMyNeckInIt]

Hi Niobe & GilliB - both equally valid perspectives. Morally - unquestionably the best thing to do: use the money to pay the debt.

Financially though, Melanie's option is clearly the most sensible.

I'm sure you both appreciate that I was writing hypothetically, speculating if there was a legal way Mitch could 'keep' the money, and get his hands on it sooner rather than later. It goes without saying, that trust is everything: the parents would need to know about the IVA, and be complicit in the subsequent arrangement if it was to stand any chance of success.

Also, I would never condone acting illegally: If Mitch was inheriting the money directly, I would wholeheartedly advise handing it over (presumably there would still be some left over) as per usual IVA 'windfall' t's & c's. But like you say he's not inheriting a bean.

As for dishonesty (or should that be morality?), it boils down to the individual really: I think my suggestion is 'sneaky' at worst, but if the trust side of the agreement is viable, financially astute at best.

Dishonesty in my book is: Vodafone & Costa (as well as the banks / credit companies I'm sure) 'avoiding' £millions in corporation tax; MP's milking tens (or hundreds) of thousands of pounds on expenses and 'property flipping', all to the detriment of the public purse. But it's all legal so heigh-ho.

The money involved here is small change to the creditors, but life changing for the individual and his family. Thus if there's a legal way for him to keep it, and turn is life around - then good luck to him.

I'm sure there are others on this forum that are in a better position than me, to advise in this respect.

[kazzafunk]

Personally I would fess up to my parents and explain that you would prefer them to offer an amount equal to the estimated dividend on your IVA to end it early.

Yes your credit rating is affected for 6 years from acceptance of the IVA but you will then save money each month from not paying into the IVA.

Your parents can then give you anything left over after it's all done and dusted.

I wouldn't risk taking the money and holding it in another account - the tax element on savings may give the game away, and as niobe says on this forum we must give the 'correct' advice and cannot condone anything that 'may' jeopadise your IVA.

[MelanieGiles]

We need to remember here that this is not Mitch's inheritance, but his/her parents - who can do what they like with the money.