Hi all, I am new to this site but not to debt. For five and a half years (since I split from my wife) I have been with a debt management company paying off my creditors but had to drop to a minimum payment of one pound a debt a couple of years back following a heart attack and giving up my job. I am now self employed but earn an abloute pittance and in fact qualify for working tax credit and only survive financially because of the wonderful support I get from my partner. After all these years, my wife (still not divorced but oh so nearly) has agreed a settlement with me. It is not a lot (approx £20K) but it would give me the ability to pay back money lent to me from family and friends including a large amount from my partner and not forgetting approx 5K for my solicitor. I feel duty bound to sort this out as for so long I have been promising these people once I get a settlement then I will pay them back. However, after this I will only be left with a small amount of money. The debt that is still being managed for me stands at £38K with no realistic way of me ever paying this back. My health is fairly good and I just do not want the stress in my life that occurred prior to my ill health. I am therefore thinking of going bankcrupt sometime next year but my question is how far back does the OR go when looking at your finances and if I went bankrupt in say 6-8 months time would that be a fair amount of time to pass from my small settlement from my ex? I have absolutely no savings whatsoever at the moment, no home as it is in my partners name, in fact I have nothing except for two pensions that do not reach maturity for another 15 years. Many thanks
Why don't you use the money to do an overall settlement with everyone - which of course has to be the right thing to do. If you prefer your current partner, and other family members, you do them no real benefit as a subsequent Trustee will trace those monies and demand them to be repaid for the benefit of all creditors. And an ongoing DMP paying £1 per month for ever does not seem to be a sensible option.
I would take advice from an insolvency practitioner as to the options available to you - as a settlement could be done formally or informally with your creditors. If they have been receiving £1 per month, any offer of settlement is bound to be better than that.
I have just seen this post on the bankruptcy site and completely agre wilth Melanie.
Infact she is probably the best person to resolve the problem for you so I would suggest you have a telephone call with her before you start any other course of action.
good luck
Paul Johns
Reviva UK
Assisted Bankruptcy Specialists www.revivauk.com
