A Bankruptcy Lawyer’s Blog

Do You Need Help to Go Bankrupt?

Very many people in the UK especially in England and wales will take the step to petition for their own bankruptcy this year.

Still even more will think about it and then decide the process is too stressful or complicated. That is where this article seeks to help. If you need help to go bankrupt I can point you in the right direction.

Firstly you may ask what is bankruptcy? Simply it is a mechanism which allows you to write off your debts and then start afresh. In return for this you make known to the official receiver, (who is a government appointed person who is responsible for looking after your affairs), any assets you may have. These are set out for him in a document called a statement of affairs, which can take time and effort to complete as it is 35 pages long.

If you have a house, it will vest in him and he will seek to realise any equity for your creditors. Many people have negative equity and so if you still wish to retain the house and can pay the mortgage you can arrange to have it transferred back to you for a small fee.

You may also be allowed to keep a motor vehicle with a value of up to �2,000 if it is needed for work or job interviews.

You need to set out your income and expenditure on the statement so the or can ascertain if you can afford to make payments to him from your income for 36 months. This is called an income payments agreement.

If you can complete your paperwork, you need to contact your local county court and see what procedure they have in place to hear a bankruptcy petition. I find that each court will have a slightly different procedure and so care needs to be taken, that you get this right.

Finally when you know the procedure you will need to take 3 copies of each of your documents and your fee of �510 (unless you are entitled to a rebate of rebate of the court fee) and issue the petition.

For many this is all too much. There are companies who can help you through this process and if you are worried i would be happy to explain how the process can be made easy.

Information provided by Steve Thatcher of Help With Debt (UK) Limited and total debt solutions company.
For all further reading see http://www.helpwithdebtuk.com
For personal contact email sthatcher@helpwithdebtuk.com
For Steve’s thoughts see http://steves-debt.blogspot.com

If you have any debt problem whatsover either personal or corporate make Steve your first call all advice is free. Finally if in the UK and you need a friend to speak to call 01162171406