Official search needed before you can issue a bankruptcy petition at court
Before a bankruptcy petition can be formally issued at court, the creditor must carry out an official bankruptcy search to check that no other bankruptcy petitions have been issued against the individual in the previous 18 months.
- this search must be carried out no more than 7 days before your present your own bankruptcy petition;
- there is a small fee to pay for the bankruptcy search, which is carried out with the chief land registrar. A solicitor can carry out the search on your behalf if you are unable to search yourself.
What to do if someone has beaten you to it and issued a bankruptcy petition first?
If there is already a bankruptcy petition in place, you may wish to support the existing petition as it will be cheaper than presenting your own. We can help you complete all the relevant documents and serve the notice of support
What if a bankruptcy order has already been made?
If a bankruptcy order has already been made, you cannot carry on with your petition.
All clear to proceed – what next?
If the bankruptcy search reveals the existence of no other petitions, then you will need to certify this in your own petition, and use the following wording:
“I/we certify that I/we have conducted a search for petitions presented against the debtor in the period of 18 months ending today and that either:
– no prior petitions have been presented in the said period which are still pending
– a prior petition (Number……………….) has been presented and is pending in the ………………… court and we are issuing this petition at risk as to costs.
Signed…………………………………………………….. Date………………………….. “
At Francis Wilks & Jones, we can assist you with the bankruptcy petition filing, issuing and service process. Do call us for your expert bankruptcy petition assistance.
