Bankruptcy advice

[Laiq]

This may turn out to be a little long, as I try to explain the full situation, and I apologise in advance for that.

In December last year my husband, and his business were made bankrupt, and at that time the council tax debt we had was transferred directly over to me (as is their way). I'm a stay at home mother, and have no income of my own, and so my husband told me he would deal with it, and not to worry.

Prior to this my Father had passed away, and it took me a long time to sort out probate, due to issues with a will that had been lost by the holding company, and so in April of this year I was finally granted probate and claimed the £20,000 that my father had in a life assurance policy. On April 17th, while I was in Cornwall putting my Fathers house on the market for sale I was made bankrupt. I hadn't received a court date - and had I known I would have appeared at court letting them know that a £20,000 cheque was due to clear in my bank 2 days later, and it would more than cover the original council tax debt (£3000)

I accepted my fate when I returned home to find out what had happened, and went through the Official receivers to get my bankruptcy cleared. The insolvency agency person I had my interview with told me that because I had sufficient funds in my account (even having taken out my brothers share of the money from my father - which I had transferred before I realised I was bankrupt) the bankruptcy would be very straight forward, and should be dealt with within a couple of months, with me receiving a good bulk of the money back.

2 other debtors came forward, (although have not lodged proof of debt yet) which bought the total to just under £4000 - still more than sufficient money in my account to cover these debts. Indeed the Official receivers took over £13,800 out of my bank account way back in June (the full balance).

I've been occassionally chasing the Official Receivers to find out what is happening with my case, and I spoke to the guy dealing with my account today. It seems that as the council have more than 50% of the debt owed they are entitled to bring forward their own Insolvency Practioner to take over the case, and now the Official Receivers have no control and cannot give me ANY advice of what to do next.

I know I owe this money, and I'm happy to pay it - BUT the money that is remaining is vitally important to me, and at the moment we had no kind of summer because the money had been taken, and at the moment the future is looking very bleak because I was expecting a good £7000 back, and I cannot see it happening before Christmas.

Any advice about this confusing situation would be gratefully received.

[10110001]

For what its worth, and I will ask others to contribute also.

1. Are you an executor or trustee in your father’s estate? An undischarged bankrupt cannot normally stand as a trustee so it might be worth having your brother stand as trustee and holds the funds until he sees fit. Its difficult to coerce a trustee to pass funds when the Will gives him absolute power of decision, especially if he is a discretionary trustee.

2. If you are of the opinion that money not owing by you has been fraudulently taken from you, a debt is artificially high or fictitious, or fees are disproportionate then it might be worth asking for it back, or file a complaint with a police authority of Misappropriation of Funds (embezzlement) under Section 15A(1) of the Theft Act 1968.

3. Who made you bankrupt? Did they follow proper procedure, or was it all don’t without you knowing about it beforehand? If the latter is true then you might be able to have the bankruptcy nullified, but this will need help of a solicitor.

4. You also need some serious advice in the meantime, it might be the kind of advice that beyond the scope of this forum. Do you have home insurance that had legal cover? It might be worth exploring this route. If you are not working then you might get a solicitor for free – just a few ideas for the moment.

[Laiq]

Thanks for the response, and some good advice there.

I tried going to the CAB this morning, but couldn't do the 3 hour wait with my 4 year old already bored out of his mind.

I suppose I'm just confused that it had got to the stage of funds being ready to hand out, and now the council have involved their own Insolvency Practitioner, which I have no idea what that means - or if I'll ever see any of my money back.

Has this put me back to square one?

[Tau]

You need to find out all the details of who served the bankruptcy notice and to what address it was sent. If it was not sent to the correct address you may have reason to go back to court and contest the petition.

You should have a case number on any paperwork sent to you by the Official receiver.
If the OR cannot give you the details you need to know, phone the court and go through to the bankruptcy clerk and they should be able to give you the information that you need.

As the other poster has already said, you do need to speak to a solicitor soon.

[Laiq]

Right, been to the CAB today in relation to this case.

After many phone calls it seems that the insolvency practitioner that the council had appointed wanted nothing to do with my case as there was more than sufficent funds to pay off all debts, and any further involvement from them would mean that their fee's would eat away all the available money, leaving everyone unhappy.

On returning home, I spoke again to the guy at the official receivers office, who is running my case. He claims that he had to talk them out of pursuing it this afternoon because the CAB had annoyed them (why, when all she did was ascertain the facts, I have no idea)

The guy running my case now says it's going to take a further 10 weeks at least to complete my case.

I don't know if anyone here has dealt with / knows the procedures of IP's and the official receivers offcie, but I'm struggling to get my head around the situation, so if you can answer these questions, please do:

1. I'm being told the my bankruptcy needs to be re-advertised as it's been 5 months since they last did it, in case any more creditors come forward. Is this correct? (I don't understand it, as none actually came forward last time, so why they need to do it again I have no idea)

2.I've got a feeling this guy is giving me the run around now, because the CAB lady compained to his boss about his, because he was rude to her on the phone - is there anywhere I can check the way a NORMAL bankruptcy goes through - as I know mine is an exceptional case, to make sure mine is at least following normal procedures?

3. Why is it all so compliacted? They took 13K out of my bank, I owe 4K, why is it so complicated to get the money where its supposed to be, instead of taking 5 months, and probably another 10 weeks.

4. Has anyone complained to the Official Receivers, and what happened?

[olympic1805]

hi, wondered if anyone can help with some advice, my sister has been made bankrupt due to a £3000 council tax bill, which has now resulted in her other debts totalling approx £20k needing paying and also the Trustees charges of over £19k, is this trustee fee legal can they add thi much on for not a lot of work ?? please help she is risking losing her home now.