Change Name when emigrating to avoid creditors

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gone

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Hi, I'm looking to move to Canada (have visa already) and have major debts (gaff in neg equity) to escape, payment is not an option unless I win the lotto and the bank is not willing to do even the smallest of deals so I'm thinking of changing my name.
I have zero commitments -pensions etc that would be affected besides the actual debts.
Does anybody have any experience with this-will it work?Should I do it here or over there?
Is there some sort of solicitor that would be knowledgeable on this issue?
Thanks if you can help.
 
What does changing your name achieve? You are still liable for your debts.

I think you would be better off simply going bankrupt either here or in Canada. This will put your debts behind you for once and for all.

Check if going bankrupt here would affect your going to Canada. You might need the OA's permission.

Brendan
 
I thought changing my name might render my creditors unable to locate me?
What does OA stand for?
If I go bankrupt here my visa for Canada will expire and if I go bankrupt there it.....hmmmm,I'll have to look into bankruptcy there,thanks for input.
Am looking for purely the most cost effective way to shed my debts,nothing else matters to me and I must use Canadian visa before Jan.
 
no_moolah said:
Would you consider going Bankrupt in Scotland or the UK? It's a much simpler process
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I have to use my Canadian visa by Jan or else it expires.
I could theoretically go from there to UK in a couple of years (once I get permanent residency in Canada) and go bankrupt but it would take 15 months out of my life sitting in Uk waiting for the process to end which is time I'd rather not waste if I don't strictly have to.
Changing name might be the simplest process of all is the logic in my head.
 
The process for changing your name in this country is pretty simple. And as far as I know there is no simple way for a creditor to search the court records if they want to know if a person has changed their name. My friend used to work in the courts and told me about 2-3 years ago that there is a book with all of the details handwritten in and if a creditor wanted to search for someone they would have to go in to the court office and manually do it. Not sure if it has changed since then but if it hasn't then it should be easier to do it over here
 
Much appreciated, this is just the type of info I'm looking for.
Do you happen to know if creditors explore this route often with debtors- it sounds like they may going from what you anecdotally say?
I wonder how many people change their name here every year, can't be many.
 
gone said:
I wonder how many people change their name here every year, can't be many.
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I'd guess at least some of those who do are current or former sex offenders, terrorists or criminals. That's why I'd be very, very wary of going down that road.
 
gone said:
Much appreciated, this is just the type of info I'm looking for.
Do you happen to know if creditors explore this route often with debtors- it sounds like they may going from what you anecdotally say?
I wonder how many people change their name here every year, can't be many.
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I can't imagine why they would explore this route - unless they had some information that the person had changed their name. I don't think it would occur to many creditors.
 
no_moolah said:
I can't imagine why they would explore this route - unless they had some information that the person had changed their name. I don't think it would occur to many creditors.
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Yeah I know what you mean but with databases etc it must be near impossible for a person to just vanish off the radar, so if I do it would nearly point directly to a name change, perhaps.
Maybe I'm over complicating things, maybe I should just go to Canada and forget about the debts here. I wonder are there any cases of the Irish banks being able to extend their reach to Canada.
 
T McGibney said:
I'd guess at least some of those who do are current or former sex offenders, terrorists or criminals. That's why I'd be very, very wary of going down that road.
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It is not just done for unsavory reasons. I recall a woman changing her name to match her new partners, cannot now remember why she didn't marry him, maybe there was a waiting period for divorce.
 
gone said:
have major debts (gaff in neg equity) .
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Can you please tell us how much the major debts amount to. I cannot see a bank chasing you to Canada unless you owe millions. They've been chasing David Drumm and Sean Dunne for multi millions for years now and not a penny so far.
 
Bronte said:
Can you please tell us how much the major debts amount to. I cannot see a bank chasing you to Canada unless you owe millions. They've been chasing David Drumm and Sean Dunne for multi millions for years now and not a penny so far.
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250k approx.
 
Do they know you are going to Canada? Contact the xpat website for Irish in Canada and find out from the Irish over there if they are being chased. I haven't heard one story other than the high profile ones of chasing to all parts of the globe.

Why didn't you go bankrupt in Ireland?
 
Bronte said:
Do they know you are going to Canada? Contact the xpat website for Irish in Canada and find out from the Irish over there if they are being chased. I haven't heard one story other than the high profile ones of chasing to all parts of the globe.

Why didn't you go bankrupt in Ireland?
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Because I'll have to give a portion of my earning to my creditors for the next 3+ years and it would not be worth my while working if that was the case, so this route might be easier. No the bank does not know my plans.
 
This kind of action is totally unnecessary. There is no Bank or creditor going to go to the trouble of chasing you down in Canada or elsewhere if you have no substantial assets. It would not be cost effective for them and a waste of time. My day to day job involves making decisions on cases like these and unless we are talking about a defaulter with substantial assets/income we never bother chasing anyone who has emigrated. You don't need to go bankrubt unless you have plans to come back to Ireland in the next couple of years. I'd recommend talking to "New Beginnings" or a similar organisation and let them contact the Bank to advise that you have no income in the country and will agree to assist in the sale of the property provided the balance of the debt is written off. Banks are pragmatic. They have better things to do than chasing people who have nothing to offer!
 
Thanks, I would hope to have some money saved after a few years work out in Canada and it's that future savings that I'd be worried about.
I talked to New Beginnings before and they didn't want to know until repossession proceedings had started as they were so busy, maybe it's time to try them again so.
The mortgage was with ICS but it has been bought recently by Bank of Irl.
Do you think the bank will write of the balance, I know the guy from New Beginnings stated that one bank was but didn't they come out a day later and say that they weren't?
The bank has sent me numerous letters asking for voluntary repossession but as they never mentioned what would happen to the balance I ignored them.
Out of curiosity what would be classed as "substantial assets"?
 
ICS and BoI are one and the same entity.
Essentially you will give the bank 2 choices. (1) You agree to assist in the sale process if they accept this as a full settlement of the debt (i.e. write off the balance) (2) You will not assist in the process if they refuse and state your intention to emigrate.
If they fail to agree to the write-off they will be shooting themselves in the foot as a re-posession of the property will take years and cost them a lot of money. Make sure you let them know that you have no income and no earnings other than SW.
Any sensible decision maker will agree with your proposal. However BoI can often take the ostrich approach and have been known to delay making decisions (The Richie Boucher "we will write off nothing approach!!).
As I said previously they have substantially more to lose than you. There is no chance that they will chase after you to Canada to get at your savings! They are currently totally swamped dealing with cases where there is some hope of recovering funds!
 
I'm worried that they will happily shoot themselves in the foot as they have been doing it since I stopped making payments 2010- surely if they were going to be pragmatic about it they would have done it already?
I think they haven't repossessed yet as they don't want to unsecure the debt which would allow someone like me (no assets or ties) to hop across to Uk and escape scott free via bankruptcy (as the debt must be unsecured to avail of bankruptcy).
Thanks for your replies.
 
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