Effects of bankruptcy and what does it mean?

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Bankruptcy affects people in different ways, depending upon their circumstances.

It may already affect some before a bankruptcy order is even made  with the presentation of a bankruptcy petition preventing the sale or dealings with any property whilst it remains.

When a bankruptcy order is made

You can expect the following to happen:

• The Official Receiver will contact you within a few days and will ask you to complete a questionnaire and return it.  The questionnaire is long and requires that you provide your personal information, information about your debts, assets and income.
• You will also be asked to attend an interview with the Official Receiver to be held either in person or remotely.  The interview is set around the information which you will have already provided in the questionnaire.
• After the interview the Official Receiver may have follow up questions for you or you may not hear anything further from them for some time.

How might it affect my everyday life?

The effects of bankruptcy vary dramatically from person to person

• For some, having been made bankrupt is something of a relief where the stress and worry of being in debt is suddenly lifted.
• For others, bankruptcy affects the home and sometimes your job. If you are a director of a limited company for example, you are prohibited from continuing in that role whilst bankrupt and must resign.
• However, bankruptcy does not mean that you cannot work and for most it does not affect employment at all. 
• Your bank account may be frozen by your bank but that does not mean to say that you cannot have a bank account whilst bankrupt. 
• Depending on the value and purpose of your car, you may be allowed to keep it and run it.

At FWJ we regularly advise on these matters both before and after bankruptcy.

Let us help you today

Whatever your bankruptcy issue, our team is here to help. If your enquiry is urgent, contact Stephen Downie who will be more than happy to speak to you as soon as possible.

We needed expert bankruptcy advice and we definitely found it in the bankruptcy team at FWJ. Sue and Bradley provided us with clear and understandable advice in a situation which was really stressful for us. They were able to resolve matters on very favourable terms for us and we can’t thank them enough.

A client for whom we achieved a successful outcome