STBXH declares bankruptcy

[Getoutanddrive]

Hi all,

I was wondering if anyone has had any experience with this?

Our first financial hearing is in August.

He filed for bankruptcy today and he let me know.

We share a house which I live in with our children. I don’t think we share any other financial ties (cars, loans, debt etc) just the house.

I do have a solicitor who’ll advise me next week but is there anything I should know on a personal/human level? Has anyone been through this that can share their experiences? Will I lose my stuff in the house as their joint assets too!

I’m so sad. I can’t buy him out of the house. We’re probably going to go in emergency accommodation and then social housing.

It’s been a really horrible divorce so far (there’s been abuse in the past) so it just feels like a never ending tirade of BS.

So sorry you’re going through this OP! Do you have a car at all? Just because it’s worth knowing that if you have one, even if you paid for it and it’s registered in your name, as long as it was acquired during the marriage then that will go in the pot. Anything that is in the house is a joint asset, to be honest absolutely anything is a joint asset if it was acquired during the marriage, so it’s worth bracing yourself for that going forward.

It will impact your financial settlement as the Trustee in Bankruptcy takes control of STBX’s assets, meaning they no longer belong him and this is likely to reduce your financial settlement as the pot of matrimonial assets is left much smaller. As you’d solicitor will also advise, when agreeing your financial settlement you must be careful that is it not so skewed in your, the solvent spouse’s, favour to appear to be designed to defeat the claims of creditors.

If you can demonstrate that you purchased things solely after he left the marital home these can be disallowed. You can keep the things you need to live - for example your clothes, furniture and kitchen equipment. Unless you have a lot of pricey electricals, jewellery, antiques, hobby or sports equipment, vehicles, bicycles etc it’s likely much will be of little interest. You don’t need to worry they’re going to take your kids beds, for example.

I do have a car, it was actually ‘his’ because he took my newer more expensive car off me when he left and the car he left me with doesn’t actually work so it’s been on the drive for nearly a year!

Gosh I’m so worried. I have no idea what I’ll be able to keep then. We don’t have many expensive items at all, maybe two TV’s that are the most expensive items we bought everything else is just furniture, beds, washer, dryer etc I can’t even wrap my head around this.

If the TVs are large, new and have a decent secondhand resale value they’ll likely be taken. If they’re several years old and nothing special then likely not. The point is to resell anything to help pay off any creditors, not strip you of everything you own as some sort of punishment.

Don't worry. Anything that is used for daily life will not be taken. I'm sorry he is still managing to impact your life.

Thank you so much for your message.

For the house, will I get absolutely nothing from the sale?

So sorry but I’m so new to this all, but when you say skewing it in my favour, does that mean I’ll probably have to get like 50/50 out of the house or finances?

There’s absolutely nothing really here of worth, just two large tvs and that’s about it. Everything else is very normal day to day things. I don’t have jewellery or anything that is worth a lot.

It’s all so confusing.

One tv is a flat screen but about ten years old. I can’t imagine they’d get much for it? The second one is about 5 years old and was worth about £300 when purchased so I hope they don’t take that. Fingers crossed. Thank you for your help.

Well, phew for that because I genuinely have nothing worth anything.

He’s been racking up debt on purpose since he’s left and will literally leave us homeless now. His mother is a millionaire who already said she’d buy him a new place after the divorce so I know this is just to spite me.

Are you able to buy your ex out with regards to the house. Once a Trustee in Bankruptcy has been appointed, you may be contacted to ask if you can do this. The Trustee may accept an offer and as will be cheaper than costs incurred in selling home. Trustee may also ask if there is any family members that could help with house equity.

We're you a director/secretary in a private company with him?

Unfortunately no. No one can help, I was a SAHM for years and he had full control of the finances so I didn’t even have savings. I honestly have nothing to pay towards the house and my family can’t help as I don’t really have that bigger family and who I do have around me can’t work due to disabilities or diseases.

He started a company but he ran it under his self employed self (it wasn’t a fully fledged business) but I don’t know too much of that either as he’s hid that from me too.

Does anyone know if there's any point in arguing that the ex is deliberately impoverishing himself to get more of the assets/continue the abuse? I'm sure I have read about exs deliberately leaving very lucrative jobs for instance and the judge deciding it was a calculated cash grab or to spite the other spouse.

My friend didn't lose the house when her husband went bankrupt because they were tenants in common and she had no part in the business

I may be wrong but I think if she does this you may be able to swoop in at that point and claim a share so long as you haven't remarried in the interim... check with your lawyers!

Thank you. My solicitor mentioned something super briefly as this is all happening so fast but I’ll check with her again next week.

This is how I feel. He’s financially abused me for years (and in other ways) but because I’m no longer bending to his rule anymore he’s constantly punishing me example: stopped paying child support for months so I had to go to CMS, took all money from joint account and from the house, took my car the list goes on

deleted