When the husband goes bankrupt, does the family always lose the home?

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Hello,

My Father went bankrupt in 1998. He died in Oct 1999. Me and mum are trying to pay the mortgage between us. I have two brothers and one sister, all are younger than me (I'm 22yrs). So I am the only one working at the moment. The youngest is 14yrs.

My mum is on benefits and is 50yrs old. We are in the process of getting the flat roof of our house renovated. The local council are paying for this. We also have other things that need doing on the house due to general wear and tear, for example, leaks, parts of our window need fixing, top floor electrics now need doing. The list goes on. My dad never did anything around the house and therefore it's just got worse.

The thing is, if we leave on our own accord if the courts ask us to go then we will have to also pay for the grant. By the time my sister is 16yrs old my mum will not recieve any benefits for the kids at all, so she will have to go our and fine a job. At 52 this will not be easy, especially with a double mortgage my dad took out and a intrest only mortgage we are paying at the moment as we can not afford another £100 a month to transfer it to capital as well.

please help! Thank you.

Sarah Message sarah_mess@hotmail.com

-- sarah message (sarah_mess@hotmail.com), March 30, 2001

Answers

Dear Sarah, Please see the responses to your other posting a couple of days ago. You should discuss things with your mother and both of you see a solicitor to see where you stand.

Pendle

-- pendle (pendle@amun-ra.demon.co.uk), March 30, 2001.


There are conditions attached to Council Renovation Grants, and these should have been made cear to you when you first discussed the grant with the council surveyor, and also later on in writing. The person (or persons) whose name is on the deeds will have been required to sign an agreement stating the terms of the grant. In my area, for example, this would include agreeing not to let out the property or to sell the property within 5 years, otherwise the grant becomes a repayable loan which attracts interest. What would happen in the event of involuntary repossession, I do not know, but your council will certainly be able to tell you if you ring them up and ask.

You should probably being talking all of this through with your local Citizens Advice Bureau, and/or a solicitor. You may be entitled to some free legal advice via your house insurance, or a credit card if you have one, or through trade union membership.

-- Eleanor Scott (eleanor.scott@btinternet.com), March 31, 2001.


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