www.iva.co.uk

My partner is considering an IVA. We are not currently linked financially but in June we are getting married. Even then I dont intend to put his name on my mortgage or open a joint bank account with him, will my credit rating suffer or my house be 'black-listed due to his IVA?

Hi there and welcome to the forum

Can you afford to continue to pay the mortgage on your own, with no contribution from your partner? If so your asset will not be affected, however marriage gives you a natural association with your husband, which may affect your own credit rating.

Don't let this put you off - marriage is a great institution!

Thanks for the reply.

I feel its the only way forward to him has he has substantial debts from a previous relationship. I worked hard to increase my credit rating after the end of my first marriage so am more cautious of opening joint accounts or as I said, including him on my mortgage. At the moment I pay all the bills with just a small contribution from him and this is likly to continue after our marriage. My main concern is the effect it will have on me and my house. I expect my rating to become affected but its just the scale Im concerned about. I thought that as long as we didnt open joint accounts or apply for credit etc together we wouldnt be financially linked. I know Im still paying a debt from my first marriage which I stupidly agreed to take out a joint loan with my ex husband (his debt from credit cards) and am legally obligated to pay this which I do. Would there be any legal obligation on my part to pay my new husbands debts? Apologises if Im waffling a bit.

You have no legal obligation at all to pay your husband's debts, and if he is thinking of proposing an IVA I would do this before the marriage rather than afterwards. Has he held discussions with an insolvency practitioner yet, and you may find it helpful to talk to one as well, just to get comfort about your own position.

I deal with a lot of couples in similar circumstances to that you describe, and the process is relatively straightforward, but nevertheless very important that you both understand the implications (if any) on either of you before signing on the dotted line - especially if you are going to formalise your relationship with each other by marrying.

Thank you Melanie for your prompt reply.

He has only just decided this is the best path for him and contacted two companies last night (they are ringing him back).

I will definetly ask some more questions when his meeting is arranged and to be fair to him he was going to pose the question himself. Hopefully it will all be arranged before our wedding in June.

One last question - if he closes his bank accounts and has his wages paid into mine and his bills DD out will that be a problem?

Thank you.

No - but if he is already taking advice from IP companies, I would make sure that he asks these questions directly.

Thank you Melanie, you have been a great help.

I will get my partner to contact you by your link when he gets home from work later as he has no access during the day.

Regards

Olwyn

I'll be happy to try and help. By the way I love your name, are you Welsh?