Joint debts when one partner is going bankrupt

paddy · Joined: 05 Dec 2006 Posts: 2

hey,

Im due to go bankrupt in a few days, but one of my debts is joint with my wife (who isnt going bankrupt).

What should she do? will she have to pay the whole debt off - it could take years and years...

Thanks in advance for the reply

Paddy

Andrew · Posted: Tue Dec 05, 2006 5:56 pm Post subject:

First, are you sure you need to go bankrupt? If you need time to consider other solutions you can either:

Now - that joint debt. If you go bankrupt your wife will be pursued for the full outstanding amount. The same would apply if you alone went into an IVA - other than the fact that your wife will only need to stump up the amount not covered by your IVA. In practical terms this makes no difference as long as you remain together as a couple.

However, if your bankruptcy makes it impossible for her to deal with the debt, she might consider an IVA, which should reduce the amount repayable to manageable proportions.

Hope this helps.

Andrew

paddy · Joined: 05 Dec 2006 Posts: 2

oh, i dont know at all, i just cant see the wood for the trees. How do i stop teh bankrupcy. all i know is that i cant go on how things are at the mo.

My wife couldnt afford to pay the left over debts at all

Andrew · Posted: Tue Dec 12, 2006 11:31 am Post subject:

Paddy,

Are you petitioning for you own bankruptcy - or is someone you owe money to trying to get you declared bankrupt?

When is the hearing?

We can help you more once we know this.

If your wife is also not in a position to keep up repayments on the joint debts then you both need to consider your situation and think about an insolvency solution such as bankruptcy or an IVA.

You could both try our IVA questionnaire - one of our advisers will then call to help you understand our best route out of debt.

All the best,

Andrew