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I am currently in an IVA. Most of the debt is my own apart from a joint loan that i had with my wife. We are currently in divorce proceedings at the minute and thejudge is trying to put an undertaking in place on the loan, which would no longer make my wife be responsible for her half of the debt and pass it back onto me.

My points are;

1. Can the judge do this
2. Can the loan company chase me after ive finished my IVA
3. Is there any comeback on me

Hi -- if the joint loan is already included in your IVA there will be no change from your point of view. When the IVA completes you will be absolved from all responsibility.

Thanks for your responce.

But if the court puts an undertaking in place that my ex partner is not responsible for the remaining debt but I am, what will happen to me? Don't want any further debt after my IVA

Freeman jones are not very helpful either.

As I understand it -- and hopefully one of the experts can confirm or put me right -- the whole loan balance would have been included in your IVA, albeit, because it is a joint loan, they still pursue the other debtor. The effect of any judgement would not be to make you more liable, but to absolve the other debtor.

Do the experts eventually make contact with you on here??? Yes the joint loan was included in full on my iva.
the only problem is that the judge said he is going to place an undertaking in place that states that the loan company in question cant persue my ex for the money and that they should chase me. He also said that if i fail to meet this demand i could face court action or a prison sentence. I just want to cover all bases on this so i dont have any comebacks

We have a few IP's and insolvency experts who regularly respond to queries, but please bear in mind that they do this in their own time and have lives to lead in the real world too, so it might take a few hours for one of them to pick up on this.

Well thanks for your advice. What do you suggest i do and say to the judge in court? From what a gather from what you and others have said, no matter what happens in 4 years i will be debt free and theres no court undertaking that can change that??? Will my exs half of the debt be written off then if they cant chase me either???

I do not see how a judge can make a creditor remove their right to pursue your ex. When you entered your IVA she became liable for that debt so take a copy of the IVA to the judge. You are protected from creditors but if she wants the same protection she needs insolvency advice and if the judge orders you to repay this debt the affordability of your IVA would be in doubt.

Michael -- surely as the debt liability was joint and several, the whole debt (albeit the other party also being responsible) would have been included in the IVA (not just half), so affordability will not have been altered.

The whole debt would have been included in his IVA but the whole amount would still be due by his ex less any payments received from the IVA. Lee's full surplus income would be taken by the IVA and his ex would be responsible for dealing with the joint creditor whatever way she could. That would not be his problem but if the judge orders him to repay her liability to the debt outside of the IVA, Lee will not be able to do this and afford the payments to the IVA.

Hmmmm -- I don't see how the judge could do that. At best he could order that, as the debt is being dealt with under the IVA, she be absolved from responsibility. But, as we know, stranger things have happened in the past !

Morning guys. Thankyou for your feedback.
Let me clarify whats going on and see what you think then:
I split with my partner in 2010 after being with her for around 5 years. We both had debts before we met. Over the years we got loans out for cars and house improvements etc and the eventually we consolidated by getting one loan in July 2010. We then split at the end of July this year. I have continued to pay this debt since 2010 either with an arrangement with the loan company through a DMP or currently in an IVA. She has not paid a penny, and her reason being is because i apparently led her into getting a loan and i knew i was going to leave her. This is a complete false statement.
I am in the IVA now and have been for 12 months. When i took out the IVA the entire loan was included and my repayments were calculated accordingly. When we attended court a few weeks back i offered my wife (soon to be ex) the house and everything in it. The judge didnt think this was enough and as my wife was taking on my half of the mortgage he classed this as a debt, so the offer he put on the table was one of, i take over the rest of the loan once my IVA has finished in 2017 and to do this he would put an undertaking in place. Leaving my wife with no responsibility for the loan. I cearly rejected this offer.
My point is that i entered the IVA to be debt free in 5 years as my wife is refusing to pay. I have to suffer the consequences what come with an IVA which im aware of but to be lumbered with further debt is clearly unfair after this time.
I dont see how i should be left to pay her debts and how the judge classes a mortgage as a debt. Surely this is an asset???

And to make all this worse Freeman Jones who im with are a complete nightmare and no one there will give me an answer in writing. Its all very frustrating and causes me a greatdeal of stess.

Exactly how I ended up in the IVA, I was left with the ex's half of the family debt and she refused to have anything to do with it so she ended up with my house, kids, child maintenance on top (which I didn't mind paying but these stop soon) so lock, stock everything and thats despite trying to argue the fact the house could be sold, she then has enough to buy a smaller house that would be paid in full, that releases a little money for the family debts and thats it but the cow wanted it all. She was awarded the house as full maintenance and I ended up with the debts and a IVA. Sorry to say, but a judge can rule to write of her side of the debts and you end up with them all as well as nothing to show for your hard efforts for being married to her even if she paid not a single stitch for anything. Judges rule in favour of the woman every time as their aware its expensive to argue the facts in court and most men can't afford to from what I can tell and you don't have a chance in hell to show this is a the best option. Sorry mate, but thats what happened to me but after 5 years of being in a IVA, I am done next month and best thing is, I know I've morally done the right thing and paid what I could to set things straight, thats a good feeling and its not on my conscious.

Hi Lee.nt

I am very sorry you’ve not been able to get the help you need from us in relation to the concerns you’ve posted.

Normally, all debts you are liable for including joint debts are included in your IVA as both parties are responsible for the full balance of a joint debt until it is repaid in full. If this is the case then regardless of the decision made by the judge, this, and all of your other debts will be written off providing your IVA concludes successfully.

IVA proposals are however tailored to each client and their circumstances so the answer to your question will lie in what was agreed in your original proposal.

If you send me an email to Sarah.Jolly@FreemanJones.co.uk with your reference we will get in touch and discuss this further with you.

Sarah