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I am considering applying for an IVA I have huge debts all unsecured in my name. My wife owns the house but I do not. Clearly I do not and will not allow my wife to pay for my mistakes, given this will the home owneship be an issue in terms of the creditors.

I owed approx 65k all in my name. I live with my partner but the flat is in his name. I had to give details of his earnings and the bills (I pay half although they are in his name) to my IP. The IVA is in my name only as he has no debts.

Good luck!

Three down, fifty seven to go until freedom!

Hi D.B

My situation was very similar to yours, as all the debt was in my name but acculated by both myself and husband, The house is soley in my name but during the IVA proposal my husband was taken into account and was finaly completed at a joint IVA. I am not 100% sure what would happen in your circumstances on whether you could be able to afford the IVA on just your income. As we are married my husband is entitled to the equity share even though his name is not on the deeds.

51 payments to go

Hi DB

The answer to this question really boils done to what the official receiver believes your creditors would be entitled to if you declared bankruptcy.

This will depend on things like the length of time you and your wife been married. If it is only a short while, then it is easier to argure that you have not contributed to the upkeep of the house. However, if you have been married for a number of years, this will be more difficult.

Even if you have never paid the mortgage directly or given money to your wife to do this, your creditors may still argure that you have supported your wife in other ways and therefore you are stil entitled to a share of the property.

You must carefully discuss your circumstances with an expert and they will be able to properly advise you

James Falla

Expert in IVA, Bankruptcy and informal Debt Management solutions, with extensive experience of solving personal debt problems over the past 10 years. I am regularly featured on BBC News, Finance Programs and Radio.

Visit my blog at: http://jamesfalla.blogs.iva.co.uk

Hi DB,

In an IVA your IP would show that the house is in your wife’s sole name and you have no beneficial interest in the property, therefore it would not be listed as an asset of your own.

As the expert has advised below if you were to declare yourself bankrupt or your IVA failed later on and your creditors voted for your bankruptcy then the property situation could get tricky in all the ways James has stated.

As advised, please discuss this at length with your IP before entering an IVA.

Kind Regards

Nicola



Finebridge Ltd
22 Laud Street, Croydon, CR0 1SU
0800 180 4212
www.finebridge.co.uk

As IVAs are always comparable with Bankruptcy so it would be important that your IVA puts your creditors in a better position than if you were to go bankrupt. If your creditors believe that they will be entitled to monies which could be raised through the sale of your Wife's house through bankruptcy they are unlikely to accept an IVA unless they receive funds to make up for this, i.e money raised through an equity release etc....



Best Regards
Oliver

Thomas Charles and Co Ltd.
Experts in personal debt solutions.
Read customer feedback at: www.thomascharles.com/about_us.asp

Notwithstanding all of the good advice listed above, you may still like to consider asking your wife to raise a lump sum from her equity to give to you to offer to creditors by way of a full and final settlement. You could then use your disposable income to service the increased mortgage payments, which may be a safer option from you than entering into a five year IVA, where the risk of bankruptcy is ever prevalent in the event of failure. I appreciate that you may not wish to consider this, but be aware it is an option.

Regards, Melanie Giles, Insolvency Practitioner for over 20 years.
View my IVA blog at: http://melaniegiles.blogs.iva.co.uk