# Moving to NI to go bankrupt.  What are the steps we should take?



## Alwyn (10 Jul 2012)

Hello,

My wife and I are are moving to NI in the coming weeks to apply for bankruptcy.  We have tried all ends up to meet our obligations but feel we are on a losing battle.  Our mortgage provider is not helpful in anyway, they sweep the problem under the carpet and are more interested in how we are going to clear off the arrears we initially aquired when we first got into trouble with our home loan.  We are engaging with MARP but also feel that there is no resolution fortcoming from our full participation with this process.  

We sat down last night and decided once and for all that we needed to take action ourselves, take the plunge and hand back the keys of our home. 

I have a couple of questions about the next steps we should take; if somebody could please take the time to answer.

1. Should we write to the bank and tell them we are handing back the property?
2. Should we put the property up for sale before we hand the keys back?
3. Do we need to engage a bankruptcy practitioner or can we go to the courts in NI ourselves?

Much appreciated,

Boomtobust


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## terrontress (10 Jul 2012)

Is it that easy?

What are you going to live on when you go up there? Surely you'll need a home and an income / savings? If you have those already, will you lose the savings and home (if you own it)? I think you will then need to provide your entire income to the official receiver and he gives you back a portion of that or else tells you how much you can keep and the rest goes to him.


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## Alwyn (10 Jul 2012)

Hi Terrontress,

We are driving up there next week to look at a one bed apartment.  The rent seems reasonable.  I am hoping to re-locate my business up there.

We have no savings as we used these to pay for the mortgage when our previous business closed down.  I have since opened up a new business in a different trade.

We have mulled over this decision for over a year, it came to the crunch yesterday when my wife got some bad news from the doctor, all stress related.


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## Steve Thatcher (10 Jul 2012)

Boomtobust said:


> Hello,
> 
> My wife and I are are moving to NI in the coming weeks to apply for bankruptcy. We have tried all ends up to meet our obligations but feel we are on a losing battle. Our mortgage provider is not helpful in anyway, they sweep the problem under the carpet and are more interested in how we are going to clear off the arrears we initially aquired when we first got into trouble with our home loan. We are engaging with MARP but also feel that there is no resolution fortcoming from our full participation with this process.
> 
> ...


 
I do this for people all the time. You will see all my advice here on the site on various posts.

To answer your questions.
1.Yes you do need to provide the bank your new address, but my advice is to wait until about 6 weeks before you decide to go bankrupt
2. No need to put thr property up for sale, it does not matter if it is sold or not, but it is a good idea to relinquish the property to the bank as it is one less thing for the OR to deal with.
3. Nothing to stop you doing this yourself, but just be certain you have done vereything right including your income and expenditure as that can land you with a three year payments order if you get that wrong.

Steve

[broken link removed]


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## Jim2007 (10 Jul 2012)

Boomtobust said:


> I am hoping to re-locate my business up there.



You do understand that if you have a viable business it will form part of the bankruptcy right??


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## Alwyn (10 Jul 2012)

Steve, thank you for taking the time to answer my questions, very informative.

Jim, the business is me.  I am a sole trader.  I am currently taking an income of €300 net per week.  It is anyones guess whether the business will weather the storm.  Probably a silly question but what becomes of the business when I file?  Is a commercial lease also taken into consideration when filing for bankruptcy?

Thanks again.


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## Jim2007 (10 Jul 2012)

Boomtobust said:


> Steve, thank you for taking the time to answer my questions, very informative.
> 
> Jim, the business is me.  I am a sole trader.  I am currently taking an income of €300 net per week.  It is anyones guess whether the business will weather the storm.  Probably a silly question but what becomes of the business when I file?  Is a commercial lease also taken into consideration when filing for bankruptcy?
> 
> Thanks again.



Before you do any thing rash I would suggest that need to get proper *independent* financial advice as to your situation and the fully understand the consequences of going bankrupt.

In broad terms, when you go bankrupt, you will be required to account for all of your assets - certain personal items etc. will be excluded and the rest will be applied to pay off your debts...  I would expect that if the commercial lease is worth something then it will be used to cover your debts.


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