Bankruptcy Hearing
At a bankruptcy hearing, a district judge considers the bankruptcy petition to decide whether or not to make a bankruptcy order.
Your appearance before the judge usually lasts a few minutes and is never as daunting as people think it will be. Almost all simple consumer bankruptcies are seen as a result of unfortunate circumstances and are blame-free.
You will be asked if all the details in your submission are correct and to confirm you are happy to commence with the bankruptcy process.
Once the bankruptcy order is made, you will be officially free of your debt.
A few weeks after the hearing you will be required to talk to the Official Receiver and this can be a longer, more detailed discussion. For straightforward cases and where the sum is not large (say less than £50,000) this ‘meeting’ will often take place over the telephone.
Bankruptcy Annulment
In cases where an order has already been made and where bankruptcy is not the best way of dealing with your debt, we may be able to help you cancel your bankruptcy order by applying to annul it.
This is generally only possible in the following circumstances:
- The bankruptcy order should not have been made in the first place.
- All of your bankruptcy debts, as well as the fees and expenses of the bankruptcy proceedings, have been either paid in full or guaranteed (that they will be paid) to the satisfaction of the court. This could have been made possible by a bridging loan facility on your property, giving time to sell and avoiding repossession. If appropriate, we can help you put an arrangement like this in place, often very quickly.
- Your creditors have accepted a proposal for a repayment plan known as an IVA (Individual Voluntary Arrangement) – a formal repayment proposal through an Insolvency Practitioner where an agreement is made to repay a proportion of your debts to your creditors.
