Bankruptcy: Trustee Negotiations
Bankruptcy puts your assets within reach of the Trustee. But what is a Trustee and why should you be worried? Read on to find out more.
A Trustee is the person appointed to oversee your bankruptcy. Their main job is to recover your assets, sell these and use the money to pay back your creditors. They are licenced Insolvency Practitioners (IP) and they work to maximise returns for the people and companies you owe money to. This means that no matter how they may appear, they are not on your side.
Navigating the bankruptcy process can be overwhelming and it can be difficult to understand how to deal with your appointed trustee appropriately.
What Can a Trustee Do?
A Trustee is “tasked to deal with the complex situations that can arise when someone becomes insolvent. The trustee in bankruptcy effectively takes control of the assets of an insolvent person and distributes funds to creditors according to the law.”
As licenced insolvency professionals, their conduct is bound by law. But as a result, so are you. You do have a legal requirement to comply with the trustee. One of their first responsibilities is to gather information about your finances. They will often ask or information regarding your assets, income and other personal questions. You must answer these truthfully, failure to do so can result in financial penalties and even criminal charges.
The main responsibility of the Trustee in bankruptcy is to recover assets and pay your creditors. The main assets at risk in bankruptcy are:
- Your home and property (even if they are jointly owned)
- Businesses
- Your car
- Investments and pensions
- Other valuables such as art and jewellery
“But Can the Trustee Take my Family Home?”
This is by far the most common question surrounding bankruptcy. Whether it is a family home, your personal property or a jointly owned property, it is within the reach of the trustee. There are 2 options:
If you Solely Own a Property
The Trustee will repossess the entire property and sell this to pay any creditors. The process will be relatively simple.
If you Jointly Own the Property
The Trustee will seek to repossess your share of the property. If your partner is bankrupt, your home is at risk. Depending on how the property is owned this could be through repossession or forced sale.
What is important here is establishing what your share of the property is as this will determine how much the Trustee will seek to recover from the sale.
Domilia Timonyte
Bankruptcy
Hi, I would recommend, Bell&Company to anyone. Their staff are friendly and informative.They helped me through a very difficult bankruptcy, they negotiated all the details and even a fixed payment at a much reduced rate than what the trustee was…
Bankruptcy
Vussvain – GB
What are Your Options in Bankruptcy?
Although you cannot avoid some of the consequences of bankruptcy, you can take action to protect your assets, including your home. There is provision in the bankruptcy process to allow a third party to ‘buy back’ assets or shares of assets.
Although it sounds simple, the process can involve complex arguments and requires an expert understanding of insolvency law as well as how trustees operate.
By using a mixture of financial and legal arguments, it is possible to reduce the amount that you will be required to pay to the trustee. In many cases, this can see bankruptcy issues resolved without the loss of homes, property or assets.
Our understanding of this has allowed us to successfully negotiate with trustees in hundreds of cases over the past decade. So, if you have been made bankrupt and are worried about losing your home, contact us today for a free case review with one of our bankruptcy specialists.
Contact us today to speak to a debt specialist.
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