Bankruptcy Help
Bankruptcy Order
This is the decision that the presiding magistrate has made in your bankruptcy hearing to admit your petition for bankruptcy. The Bankruptcy Order is made and then the Official Receiver (also known as an O.R) is submitted to oversee your concerns. This is a court appointed expert who works for both the court and is also a civil servant.
After the order is made, there is not usually any going back and reversing the decision. However, there are limited circumstances under which it is possible. The person has become a bankrupt; their details will be published in the local papers. The bankrupt loses all claims to their assets, including their home, savings, equipment, car etc. Some essential items are excluded from this, such as your clothes and anything vital for you to do your job. The debtor is called to the office of the Official Receiver and to bring with them a fully completed B40.01 form, known commonly as the Short Bankruptcy Preliminary Questionnaire. The debtor will also make a statement to the O.R at this time.
This meeting serves an important purpose. It allows the O.R to ensure that you the debtor have fully divulged all of your debts and assets to them. The Short Questionnaire will inform the O.R of much of this important information. The O.R will also examine the behaviour of the bankrupt in order to assertain if any criminal financial negligence or fraud has been committed. Next, a member of the Official Receiver’s staff may visit the home of the debtor. They will complete a report and see if any immediate valuables can be sold off. The O.R and their staff have the legal right to force entry into your home. The Official Receiver will also assess whether the bankrupt should make any payments to their creditors, either by choice or through the use of an income payment order, forcing wages from the debtor to their creditors. This is rare and only if there is significant funds available at the end of each month after the debtor’s domestic finances are concluded to warrant payments.
You will normally be discharged from bankruptcy after one year from the date of the original bankruptcy order.
Bankruptcy Petition
A Bankruptcy Petition is the process and official application made for someone to become bankrupt. This can be made by either the debtor or by their creditors if they are individually owed more than seven hundred and fifty pounds.
A Bankruptcy Petition begins with you filling in two forms, which are available from local bankruptcy courts or online. Either way, due to need to make copies of this information, you must ONLY complete these forms in black ink. The two forms consist of Form 6.27, which is the Petition itself. Form 6.27 is your official request to the court to make you bankrupt and has space for you to include your reasons why you wish this to happen. The second form that accompanies the Petition is form 6.28, the Statement of Affairs. This form allows you to present both your debts and list your assets. It also requires you to alphabetically list the names and addresses of your creditor. The final part of this form includes a section that requires you to swear on oath that the information that you have presented in this document is true, known as the Declaration of Insolvency. There may be additional charges for a solicitor or court official to assist you with this. If you wish to get legal advice, you should obtain the services of a solicitor. If you need the services of a bankruptcy advisor, these can be found in the Yellow Pages and there are plenty on the Internet. Many people try to ask court officials for help, they are allowed to give limited assistance, but none of this would be considered as 'legal advice'. It is at this stage that you must make your payment which includes court fees and a deposit that is handed on to the Official Receiver to administer. Married couples applying for joint bankruptcy must pay separate fees to the Official Receiver.
A magistrate will be scheduled to review the Bankruptcy Petition and a date will be set for the court hearing of the petition. The Official Receiver (O.R) will take over some of the administrative duties of the bankruptcy, as they act in the capacity of the Trustee of the Bankruptcy, unless an Insolvency Practitioner (IP) agrees to take on this role. The nomination of an IP is made by the O.R.
For free confidential, impartial advice contact us on free phone: 0800 804 8020.