Bankruptcy & Divorce

Hi all

This is a complicated one! In May 05 my husband ran off with another woman leaving me with no money and no support (mortgate, bills, food etc). He paid maintenance for our son (7 yo now) until that November 05 and then nothing since. We both had 8K loans and he had two credit cards for approx £6K in total and took the overdraft for £4K too. His girlfriend divorced her husband and got £120K, has three children (6, 7 & 13), received maintenance for them but does not work. I have a new boyfriend and we have a 20 month old baby girl (yes that was rather quick - you do the maths!) He left the company he worked for for 10 years and started up by himself and had now been made bankrupt. The trustees for the creditors are coming after 50% of the house. He has a small pension but there is nothing else. I started proceedings against him initally (adultery) but my solicitor was struck off by the law society and then died! My ex has now stated on grounds of 2 years separation and we have a date of 5 Feb for Decree Nisi. I am trying to push the divorce through as I feel if I can get a decision by the courts over that (should be better than 50% I hope) then the bankruptcy people will just have to swallow it but its going to be a really close run thing. Any advice? Can the courts force his girlfriend to swallow some of the debts? He has after all supported her rather than his own family. Surely that part of the debt is theirs? Oh and I have no idea how much he has gone bankrupt for as under the Data Protection Act no one will tell me! Anyone have any ideas on how I can find that info out?

You can find out the extent of his bankruptcy if either you or anyone close to you is a 'creditor' of his.

Because he has not paid any maintenance for over two years in theory you are a creditor and you should make that known to the trustees, if the maint. was a court order then it would not be too difficult to state the amount owed to you, if not then best guess and submit that to the trustees

However it does take time to establish all the facts relating to his bankruptcy to come to light, unless he is being extremely helpful to the trustees

With regards to the debts, any 'joint' debts in marriage will almost certainly come back to 'haunt' you, sorry but I need you to understand that.

In the two years plus since separation he has more than likely just been keeping his head above water, but if he has discharged any of the 'marital debts' and it can be proven then that is a plus for you.

The bankruptcy trustees are there to protect the interests of the bankrupt’s creditors and initially they will seek an order for 50% of the marital assets

The trustees have almost certainly put a charge on the FMH

You do not say if you have applied for 'ancillary relief' if not then apply for it now, the Nisi is not too far away and once applied for things start to move more quickly.

Ask either the CAB or a Solicitor about the likely outcome of the application for 'ancillary relief'

Turst me! I have tried all ways to get the info on the bankruptcy and although a creditor made him bankrupt he is more than happy to stuff me and is being very helpful to the creditors in respect of all monies owed. He is, however, not being truthful about his income - he is working for cash.

I have tried to become a creditor because of the maintenance but the trustees have told me that I cannot because it is a family matter.

I have not yet applied for AR - am in the process of doing this but the £300 court fees are a bit of a burden at present! I have just started a new job £30K a year and am having trouble getting relief. Need to sit down and work finances out properly.

When I apply - do I need to submit a cost form?

If you have a close friend that is owed some money by him, try asking that friend to consider notifying the insolvency practitioner of their outstanding debt, or indeed if you know of any creditors try getting some help from them.

Seems a bit ludicrous that you are obviously involved according to the trustees but they won't give up any info..

If you are struggling to pay court fees, you can apply for excemption or a reduction, you do not neccessarily need to be on benefits to qualify, worth persuing.

form EX160A on the courts website gives more clarification

www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk

Hope this helps...

Does severing joint tenancy and becoming a tenant in common make any difference to a house being taken by creditors - ie if one of the tenants in common goes bankrupt is only their part of the proceeds available to creditors?

www.sghlaw.com/insolvency/articles/Bankr...onialHomeFeb2004.pdf

Becoming tenants in common means that you each own a share of the property typically 50/50

The trustees in bankruptcy can only 'go after' the bankrupts share

The trustees could force the sale of the property