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I have debt of £40,000 with 6 creditor my spare money is £30/ month i have a houss shared with my wife my part in equity is £20000 if i declare bankruptcy how my house will b affected i ve 3 kids under the age of 12

Hi and welcome

Your house will be affected so you need to take advice on all options open to you

Regards

Your share of the equity will vest in the Trustee in bankruptcy, who will want to realise it to repay your creditors. Your wife will be invited to acquire your share, but if she cannot do this then the Trustee will allow you a period of up to one year to make alternative living arrangements, and is likely to then proceed with possession proceedings. The interest of your creditors becomes paramount at this point, and there will be little allowance made for you having dependent children at home.

May I suggest that you get a proper assessment undertaking by an insolvency practitioner into your financial affairs. This will be done on a completely free of charge basis, and you will be able to explore all of the options available to you to enable you to make the right decision to tackle those debts.

As far as tax rules apply you can transfer assets between husband and wife, as often as you like. For example Stuart Hall did this just before he went to prison, the lawyer representing his victims said even in a high court it's very unlikely they can recover his part of the asset signed over to his wife. I think but don't know you may be able to do the same (get some legal advice first is a must) And if this is the case, I guess it can be done before you go into an IVA?

Transferring assets to a spouse in order to keep them away from creditors in a BR is an absolute no-no, and the Trustee has the power to reverse the transaction. Of course, if the spouse bought the asset for a fair price and that money was then made available to creditors in repayment of liabilities, either in BR or even a single premium IVA, then that is a different matter entirely.

Regards.

You would think so, but it's nagging me as not being the case, as long as it was before (even the day before)the the IVA or BR was implemented and it only operates between husband and wife. I'll go an do some homework!

The powers of the OR are far reaching and, if they are satisfied that the transfer was made, even years before BR, as a device to frustrate insolvency proceedings, they can, and will, overturn the transaction.

Hi Adrian.86 - welcome to the forum

I would echo Size5 response in that transferring of assets, even between spouses, prior to any arrangement is not advisable and can be reversed. It would also not show you in a good light as part of the application process.

I know that wasn't the point of your question but it is important enough to reiterate. To answer your question, as you will have a share of equity in the property your property will be at risk of possession, subject to the points Melanie makes in her post.

I would recommend you speak to a couple of professionals to discuss your situation in full and understand the full implications on all options open to you - that way you can make a sound decision based on what is best for you and your family.

always willing to learn, but the Stuart Hall case does make it rather compelling, in the cae of an IVA it would be unlikley that the IP would go to court to challange a pre IVA deed of trust?

If Stuart Hall is seen to have deliberately transferred an asset to avoid paying creditors, and he ends up being made bankrupt, then the Trustee will almost undoubtedly pursue and overturn that transaction.

However, there is no guarantee that Stuart Hall will be made bankrupt, in which case it is far more difficult for someone to assert a claim over a transferred asset - especially if the claim did not exist at the time of the transfer, and there is no guarantee that claims will be successful.

Let's not compare insolvency proceedings with a case like this, because it just serves to create more confusion amongst posters.