Bankruptcy Co-habitation expenses etc

[david444]

Would really appreciate any help/thoughts on this

I have a friend who will most likely be going bankrupt in a few months.

At present he is living with his girlfriend , If he goes bankrupt ,will his girlfriend have to declare her earnings to the official assignee as well?

They share some bills such as rent, gas, electricity,internet (not food as shes vegetarian and he eats meat). but outside these shared expenses they do not share their earnings whatsoever.

As this is his problem and debts he does not want her to have any involvement in his financial affairs and vice versa.
In fact he feels that if she is dragged into this, she may want to break up with him.

Would they be in a better position if he moved out of his current apartment with her and just rented a place with someone else ?
He cannot afford a place on his own at present.

Thanks
Dave

 

[Notsureatall]

Hi David444,
I'm currently going through bankruptcy in uk so that is all I can comment on but my partners income was included in my statement of affairs which was a bit of a surprise to us on the day.as far as I was concerned its my debt and only mine but solicitor told me have to included it!

 

[Bronte]

At present he is living with his girlfriend , If he goes bankrupt ,will his girlfriend have to declare her earnings to the official assignee as well?

We haven't come across this question before. For social welfare purposes it would be relevant, but I don't recall it being mentioned on anything to do with insolvency or bankruptcy in Ireland. And I've read quite a bit of the involvency website, but it's not mentioned as far as I can tell. Best thing to do is to ask the insolvency directly whether the means of an unmarried partner is relevant. If it were of course just a roommate or sister than it couldn't be taken into account.

 

[Steve Thatcher]

Would really appreciate any help/thoughts on this

I have a friend who will most likely be going bankrupt in a few months.

At present he is living with his girlfriend , If he goes bankrupt ,will his girlfriend have to declare her earnings to the official assignee as well?

They share some bills such as rent, gas, electricity,internet (not food as shes vegetarian and he eats meat). but outside these shared expenses they do not share their earnings whatsoever.

As this is his problem and debts he does not want her to have any involvement in his financial affairs and vice versa.
In fact he feels that if she is dragged into this, she may want to break up with him.



Would they be in a better position if he moved out of his current apartment with her and just rented a place with someone else ?
He cannot afford a place on his own at present.

Thanks
Dave

In the UK if you are a couple then you are expected to note your partners income. This is so the OR can make sure that both parties are paying their share of the expenses of the house. The OR then deducts the bankrupts share of expenses and their own personal expenses from the bankrupts income to see if the bankrupt has disposable income.

If the bankrupt has no income and all the expenses are paid by the partner, there will obviously be no income payments. If the bankrupt has a very small income compared to the partner, again little chance of an IPO.
If bankrupt is main wage earner and combined with P's wages they create disposable income, then it is likely that any IPO would come from the bankrupts wages.

I hope this is clear.

Now this is mainly the case with married couples or couples with kids. If you just have a boyfriend, then in reality what I have done in the past is simply ignore the boyfriend/girlfriend and just record as living with someone and sharing expenses. Hence no sharing of income.

It has never been an issue.

Steve Thatcher
www.stevethatcher.ie

 

[Matthew Moore]

No she will not have to declare her earnings.
I would recommend that he makes them aware that he shares a house and his reasonable living expenses should be adjusted accordingly. If his relationship to his house mate is not legal then it's nobodies business whether the friend comes with benefits.

 

[Stu24]

Would the OA just use the RLE guidelines and split or pro rata the set costs for a two adult household plus rent to establish the DI of the petitioning person.

 

[Guinea pig]

Not quite the same, but for a DRN, I had to include the money my partner gives me every week for bills. Its transferred through online banking.

His actual earnings (very small) I didn't have to disclose. All debts are in my name and we are not married.