Advice please, I have been in discussion with a debt charity about my financial problems, I met and married my wife twelve years ago and moved in to her home, we have moved twice since but the house has always been kept solely in her name, I have a two buy to let properties with no equity which I bought prior to meeting my wife, I'm being told an IVA is not possible as there is equity in the marital home, we have no dependent children.. can anyone please point me in the right direction
The argument would be in an IVA that the property is in your wife's name and does not therefore form part of the IVA.
If creditors dispute and wish to challenge this they would then need to reject the IVA proposals and such a challenge would need to be done via any subsequent Bankruptcy.
The Trustee in Bankruptcy may then try and argue that you now have an interest in the property but this is a difficult and expensive claim to bring about and prove hence it would probably be easier for creditor to accept it is not offered in the IVA and accept the IVA (subject to terms being more attractive etc)
Alternatively you could consider your wife injecting a lump sum to 'buy out' your interest...
Speak to an independent professional firm rather than relying on so-called charities funded by the banks. This does not sound correct as there is no guarantee that you or your creditors have any entitlement to the equity in the marital home. There are a number of factors to consider but just being married is not one of them.
Many thanks for the reply, to use an IVA specialist will obviously cost money of which I have a major shortage at this time, Lisa it's not possible for my wife to buy me out, our age and current financial commitments are against us both, it's only my wife working that keeps our heads above water, we have already tried to secure a loan against the house to solve my problems, our only option would be to down size and free equity that way, but I fear time is not on our side.
You do not need to pay money out in order to sort out an IVA. All initial advice will be free so speak to a few more companies.
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
Initial advice should always be free to determine whether or not an IVA is suitable for you. If you enter an IVA there are costs to pay but these are approved and effectively paid for by the creditors as they come out of your assets/contributions.
The bank funded 'charities' charge the same as professional insolvency companies and in most cases advice is free. As Lisa says any fee is then agreed with creditors and deducted from the IVA 'pot' so you do not need to worry about large fees or costs. This type of misinformation is put about to discourage you from taking proper, free, independent advice.
