Hi

My mother has been made bankrupt following a stat demand. I really need advice on this issue from someone urgently please

The demand was served by a gentleman at her house personally, however had no dates on the demand. It just stated to pay within 21 days. It mentioned the case would be heard at the local court, but no date was given for a hearing.

The debt was for £15877 which was owed.

Yesterday we believed was the 21st day, but difficult to confirm as no dates on the stat demand. We paid the solicitors yesterday in full, but received a call from the receivers to say the bankruptcy order had already been made that morning.

Should my mother have been made aware of the court hearing in order to be able to represent herself and offer the payment?

I have read that she would have received a bankruptcy petition and a date for her court hearing, is this true?

Is there anyway to get this annulled now, as bankruptcy would be catastrophic as she cares permanently for my father who has dementia and Alzheimer's, and this stress could truly destroy them both.

Any help will be hugely appreciated as right now I'm feeling completely broken for them.

Thanks

Hello and welcome to CAG.

I've flagged your thread for the site team to see if anyone can help and I expect other advisers will be along over the course of the day. Weekends are always quieter here, so please bear with us until people can get here.

I see a couple of forum regulars are hovering already.

Best, HB

An application to set aside a Statutory Demand must be made within 18 days of the Statutory Demand being served. If an application to set aside the Demand is made, the court shall then make a decision whether there are reasonable prospects of defending the demand. If the court believes that this application has merits, it shall set a hearing date and if not, the creditor is allowed to present a bankruptcy petition.

If the court allows the application to set aside the Statutory Demand, then this brings the bankruptcy process to an end. A successful application to have the statutory demand set aside should result in an order that the creditor pay the legal costs.

The bankruptcy petition records a court hearing date as to when the Debtor should attend court to defend the bankruptcy.

There are two possible bases for applying to annul (cancel) a Bankruptcy Order.

You can apply either because you feel that there are good reasons for saying the Bankruptcy Order should not have been made,

or because you have paid or secured all of your debts (not just the amount you owed to the creditor who made you bankrupt).

If you apply to annul on the first basis, the grounds (reasons) are largely the same as if you were disputing the Bankruptcy Petition before the Bankruptcy Order was made, and you will need to organise your evidence in the same way and the guidance set out above should be helpful. If you apply to annul on the second basis, you will need to give the court full disclosure of all your debts and provide evidence that they have all been paid or secured ahead of the Hearing. Applications on the second basis are particularly difficult. You should try to get specialist advice if you apply to annul on either basis.

You must act quickly if you wish to annul, because the bankruptcy costs will start to add up. You can ask the Official Receiver or trustee if they will hold off from working on the bankruptcy while you make an application to the court, but you must still cooperate with them. If your application does not succeed, you are likely to face a further costs Order. This will fall outside the bankruptcy and would mean that you had a new debt to pay.

The trustee may seek to sell your home. This is a difficult area of law, and you should seek specialist advice.

https://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/forumdisplay.php?169-Formal-Solutions-Bankruptcy-Administration-Orders-Debt-Relief-Orders-and-IVAs

Regards

Andy