Family and joint debts

Bennett Jones Specialises in IVAs.

✓   Write off unaffordable debt*
✓   One monthly repayment
✓   Only pay what you can afford

An IVA may not be suitable in all circumstances. Fees apply. Entering into an IVA will affect your credit rating. You could write off up to 80% of your debts upon successful completion of an IVA.(10% of our customers wrote off 80% in the last 12 months, with a typical figure of 25%-75%).

Check if you are eligible for an IVA

Bennett Jones is here to help you regain control of your finances. We’ve helped thousands of customers become debt-free by using an IVA. Complete the form above to get no-obligation debt help from our trusted partner, The Debt Advisor Ltd. 

Our relationship with The Debt Advisor

The Debt Advisor and Bennett Jones have common Shareholders. The Debt Advisor Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority to provide debt counselling and debt adjusting services to people who are experiencing financial difficulties. The Debt Advisor Ltd will advise you regarding all of the solutions which are available to help you. There is no charge for initial advice relating to the debt solutions available to you and is without obligation. Depending upon the solution that you choose, fees may apply.

provided

Unless clear lines are drawn, you may be unsure as to who is responsible for the payment of each portion of outstanding debt.

You can share an obligation to make payments such as utility bills, mortgages, rental contracts and shared bank accounts. In some cases, you will be liable for only half of the amount owed under the terms of these contracts – with your partner, spouse or relative being responsible for the payment of his or her share.

More commonly, however, you will be responsible for payment of the whole amount which is owed – even though you have agreed with the other party that the debt will be repaid in equal shares by both of you. This means that if your partner, spouse or relative fails to honour their side of the agreement, you will find yourself being called on to repay the full amount of the outstanding debt.

Why might such agreements prove problematic?

There’s no guarantee that everything will run as smoothly as was expected when the original joint debt was incurred. When family relationships or marriages break down, it is not uncommon for an individual to find they are called on to repay debts which they firmly believed would be repaid equally by them and their partner, spouse or relative. It is not uncommon for one of the parties in an agreement to be unable to or to refuse to, pay his or her share of the outstanding debts. This can often result in debts becoming unmanageable.

In some instances, the death of a partner or spouse can sadly also result in the surviving partner being called on to repay outstanding debts which then become unaffordable.

We specialise in Individual Voluntary Arrangements – a legal solution that allows for unaffordable debts to be written off. With an IVA from our team, you will make affordable repayments to your creditors over a fixed period, with the remaining debt written off at the end if the IVA is completed successfully.

Bennett Jones Team

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