well i've more or less finished my wifes BR petiton ( Hers is more straight forward RE employment.) Could some one tell me how many copys of the petition i will need to print off - Also, will i need to take any other forms etc to the court?. Thanks Again.

Thanks for your replys Dodgy Geezer & Debtinfo - Much appreicated. Will do as suggested . I am taking my time doing both mine and my wifes petitions to try and make sure i get them spot on. I Will keep the board informed as of our progress.

Hi to the board, Apologies in advance for the long winded post. Having had a look around the forum generally, it looks to be a very good and helpful wealth of information. Thankgod for websites like this and the very informed people that help on them! If it's ok i'd like tell you of myself and my partners (Common law wife) predicament. Back in Feb 2006 we had no choice but to apply to enter into a IVA aggreement or to go Bankrupt ( in hindsight BR was the choice we should have made considering our circumstances) due to our large unsecured debts consisting of Credit cards and personal loans etc (135k- over approx a ten year period) and a general and regular drop in my earnings. Sadly, credit use had slowly but surely become a way of life for us, paying credit with credit, etc, and ashamedly a classic case of burying one's head in the sand and foolishly hoping things could possibly change for the better. We managed to pay the £750.00 per month IVA payments for approx 2 years, often going with out to ensure payment etc - again due to the lack of earning potentiol in my self employment ( Painting & Decorating subcontractor) due mostly IMPE to the massive influx of cheap imported labour generally in the construction industry ( which is still continuing) and the decline in house building and sales due to our current financial climate. I became unemployed in July of last year ( i am still currently unemployed but actively seeking work) and we could no longer afford any realistic payments to the IVA so in the end we simply defaulted, the IVA company held a creditors meeting and suggested BR but the creditors declined (no suprise there). Our creditors did not pursue us for 3 or 4 months, but slowly but surely they all got intouch and all i could do was tell them it was impossible to make any realistic payments due to the fact our outgoings outweighed our income ( My wife is in full time employment- I am currently on jobseekers but do not and never have received any benefit whatsoever due to my partners earnings, we are "just" above the benefits threshold). We have been making token payments of £1.00 for each creditor with the understanding that when i find employment i would increase these to a more realistic amount. The only reason i have been able to pay this and our other living expenses is because both mine and my partners family have been giving us regular handouts. Now, after much thought and disscussion we now realise that BR is the only viable route, and a short meeting with the CAB confirmed this too. I would like to add at this point that we are, and always have been in rented accomadation and we have no assets as such. I no longer own a car due to the fact we could not afford to run two, my wife does have a car which is only worth about 1k which she needs for work. My Parents have given us the funding for the BR and today i have just started filling in the online petion forms for my self and already i have come across a stumbling block! This will be the first of many questions i will be asking the board( Apologys) In the employment section of the petition it asks details of self employment, but appears to assume that i have actually run a "buisness", it asks about company names and work premises etc, when i started the business and when it ended. I personaly have aways just been a self employed painting and decorating subcontractor, a sole trader working in my own name and from home, and paying tax via the CIS card for various main contractors. There does not appear to be a section where i can explain this - Any tips or advice as what i should actually write here??. Thankyou to all who have taken the time to read this, and for any replys.