Contents:
England This advice applies to England: England home Advice can vary depending on where you live.
Advice for other parts of the UK: Northern Ireland home Scotland home Wales home. How to go bankrupt. Timeline for bankruptcy Sets out the steps in the process of applying for bankruptcy. Cost of going bankrupt Explains how much it will cost to go bankrupt, and other ongoing costs while the bankruptcy is in place. The bankruptcy application Explains where to find the online bankruptcy application form, and gives tips on how to fill it in.
Dealing with the official receiver Explains what to expect when dealing with the official receiver after a bankruptcy order has been made. You'll hear from them within 2 weeks of the bankruptcy order being made. They'll arrange an interview with you to discuss the bankruptcy. This interview can usually take place over the telephone.
The official receiver will then oversee the administration of your bankruptcy, either by distributing your money and property between your creditors or overseeing the appointed bankruptcy trustee who will do this. You have to co-operate with the official receiver or bankruptcy trustee as they do this.
You may need to open a new bank account so that you can have any earnings or benefits paid in, and pay your bills. Some banks may not accept your account application because of your bankruptcy, but you should be able to open a basic bank account.
In some cases, the official receiver and your bank might let you continue to use an existing bank account. Provided you co-operate with the official receiver and trustee, you'll be discharged from bankruptcy after a year. Skip to navigation Skip to content Skip to footer.
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Payments normally last for 3 years longer than the period of bankruptcy itself. This fee is only chargeable on cases where a bankruptcy application was made or a petition presented on or after the 21 July Normal monthly expenses are costs like rent, a mortgage, bills, food and clothing for you and your family everyone who lives with you and depends on you. Your reasonable domestic needs may also include:.
This tells your employer not to take any further income tax from your wages for the rest of the tax year ending on 5 April. The extra money in your pay that results from this can be claimed by the trustee to form part or all of an IPA or IPO. You must contact your trustee immediately if this happens; they can decide to reduce or increase your payments. You will be freed from bankruptcy discharged after 12 months. This ends the bankruptcy restrictions and releases you from most of the debts you had when the bankruptcy order was made.
Assets you had during bankruptcy can still be used to pay your debts once your bankruptcy has ended. Check your discharge date using the Individual Insolvency Register on our website. If emailing discharge queries, include your full name, date of birth, current and previous address, national insurance number and bankruptcy or court reference number. If you do not have access to email you can make a request by calling select option 3 followed by option 5.
It can take time for all assets to be dealt with. If your family home has not been dealt with 3 years after the bankruptcy order, the interest may be given back to you. If the interest in your family home is returned to you, the Land Registry will be told that the property is no longer part of your bankruptcy estate. The trustee will send notice to the Land Registry and the restrictions will be removed.
They can then apply to extend the restrictions. You will be removed from the Individual Insolvency Register within 3 months of your discharge. You may need to ask the credit agencies to update their records to include details of your discharge.
You should consider seeking independent financial advice about your options — contact a debt adviser. An IVA is a binding agreement between you and your creditors to pay all or part of what you owe them.
This section contains information about bankruptcy. Going bankrupt is one option for clearing your debts and making a fresh start, but it can have serious. Bankruptcy can offer you a fresh start if you can't see any other way out of your debt problems. However, going bankrupt may have a serious impact on your.
As an alternative to bankruptcy you can enter an IVA before a bankruptcy order is made to avoid bankruptcy, or propose an IVA after a bankruptcy order has been made. Any sale of your property and assets will remain valid, but your unsold assets will be returned.
Once notice of the annulment is received your bankruptcy will be removed from the Individual Insolvency Register after:. If an IVA has been agreed, this will be put on your file. You will need to apply to both Land Charges and Land Registry to have your bankruptcy entry removed from any properties you still own after paying your debts.
Fill in a form for cancelling the bankruptcy entry for Land Charges. The official receiver will put your bankruptcy in the Gazette , which publishes legal notices and provides a permanent public record of your bankruptcy.
They may also advertise it in other ways. You must tell the official receiver you have done this. You can ask the official receiver to put your discharge or annulment in the Gazette. You need to provide a copy of your Certificate of Discharge or order of annulment from the court and make the request within 28 days of the date the certificate is issued or the order is annulled.
The Gender Recognition Act says that individuals will commit an offence if they disclose a gender change wrongfully to others. The trustee will decide whether your previous gender needs to be disclosed as part of your bankruptcy. You must include your previous name on your bankruptcy petition if you had the name in the past 5 years and:.
Otherwise, you need to tell the official receiver that all your debts, assets and financial dealings are in your new name. If someone else has made a bankruptcy petition against you but not noted your gender change, you must tell the official receiver. Any previous name included in the bankruptcy petition will appear on the bankruptcy order, and in the:.
If you think the official receiver has wrongfully disclosed your previous gender you can follow our complaints procedure. If you want to complain about the official receiver, read our Complaints Procedure. If you want to complain about the insolvency practitioner, use the online form. Find out more about how we use information in our Personal Information Charter.
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