If you are living with a partner or spouse they are not responsible for paying your debts. However there are implications if you start an IVA.
Included in this article:
- Does your partner have to pay your debts?
- How is a joint property affected?
- What happens if you have joint debts?
- Can you continue to pay your partner’s debts?
Want help to start an IVA? Give us a call (0800 077 6180) or complete the form below to speak to one of our experts
Does your Partner have to Pay Your Debts if you start and IVA?
In the UK your partner is not liable to pay debt in your name. If you do not pay it then no one else can be legally forced to do so regardless of whether you are married or living together.
As such if you start an IVA they are not legally responsible for helping to make the payments. In addition they are not liable to pay any debt left outstanding after the Arrangement is completed.
You will normally have to disclose their income in your application. This is to confirm the amount they should contribute towards the household living expenses and ensure you are not paying more than your fair share.
Your partner should not have to contribute towards your IVA. Their share of the household disposable income is not included in your monthly payment unless they agree to assist you.
Struggling to get your head round all of this? We can help. Call us (0800 077 6180) or complete the form below. The advice is free and confidential.
How is a Joint Property Affected if you start an IVA?
If you are a home owner you will not be forced to sell your home if you start an IVA. However you will need to agree to try and release equity from it to increase the amount paid back to your creditors.
Where the property is owned in joint names with either your partner or spouse their share of the equity is protected. You would only be expected to realise extra cash from your share of the equity.
It will be important for you to tell the other joint owner about your IVA and potential obligation to relase some of your equity. If you do not and they subsequently refuse to co-operate it could lead to the failure of the Arrangement.
You may be able to settle your IVA early if the joint owner agrees to releasing some of their share of the home equity to enable a lump sum payment to be offered.
What happens to Joint Debts if you start an IVA?
You have to include all your unsecured debts in your IVA. This includes any in joint names with your partner. However they are not protected by the Arrangement. They remain liable for 100% of the balance.
This may not be an issue of they can maintain the ongoing repayments for these debts themselves from their share of the household surplus income. However if they cannot the creditor can start legal action against them.
To protect themselves from this action your partner will also have to consider using a debt management solution. The most appropriate option for them will depend on the wider financial circumstances.
If you and your partner have joint debts you could consider a joint IVA. This would give you both legal protection from your creditors.
Can you continue to pay your Partner’s Debts if you start an IVA?
You may have been helping your partner pay their debts from your income. If so it is unlikely you will be able to continue doing this if you start an IVA. All of your disposable income will have to be paid into the Arrangement.
It is not possible to include an amount for paying their debts in your living expenses budget. Your creditors would reject your proposal on the basis that you were making preferential payments (paying some and not others).
Where your partner cannot afford to pay their debt perhaps because they have no income of their own they will also have to consider using a debt management solution.
It might possible for you to make savings from your agreed living expenses to enable you to maintain your partner’s debt payments. However in most cases this is not recommended or feasible.
Want to start an IVA? We can help. Give us a call (0800 077 6180) or complete the form below. The advice is free and confidential.
Arrange a call with an IVA Expert
Privacy Policy
Your information will be held in strictest confidence and used to contact you by our internal team only. We will never share your details with any third party without your permission.
I have debt that my partner doesn’t know about. If I take out an IVA would you need to see his bank statements? I know how much he earns and I know the amounts of all the bills.
Also would my daughter have to know if she pays board as the IVA would be nothing to do with her?
Hi Angela
As highlighted in the artice above if you want to start an IVA you will have to give details of your partner’s income. Generally speaking you do not have to tell him and you would not have to provide copies of bank statements. However you would need to provide proof of his income somehow. Normally this is in the form of copies of his wages slips. There is no way around having to provide some kind of proof I am afraid.
Your daughter would not need to be involved and you would not need to tell her.
Note: If you are joint home owners then you must tell your partner before you start an IVA. This is because you will have to accept a clause in the Arrangement stating that you will release equity from your property in the 5th year if you can. You cannot commit to this without the involvement of your partner as they would be affected.
My husband is applying for an IVA due to debt in his own name. I’d like to know how that affects me in terms of my own money. My earnings etc? If I’m gifted money or inherit can they take that from me?
Hi Anna
As highlighted in the above article if your husband applies for an IVA he will have to give details of your income in the application. This is so there is proof that both you and he are each paying your fair share of the joint household expenses when calculating what he can afford to pay into the Arrangement each month. However you will not usually have to help him pay his IVA out of your money.
If you are gifted or inherit money during his IVA this is yours to keep. You will not have to pay it into his Arrangement. However you could choose to use some of it to help him settle his IVA early if you want.
I’ve recently found out that my husband is going through an IVA due to debt I had no idea about. Although he has not asked me any questions regarding my income, will his IVA affect my mortgage or any credit/mortgage applications in the future? The mortgage and all bills are in my name.
Hi Nicola
If your husband has already started an IVA you should double check with him that when the Arrangement was set up your property was not involved in any way. I assume it was not or you would have heard about it at the time. Given it is not involved you should have no reason to be concerned about it or your mortgage as they are not at risk.
In addition his IVA will not have any affect on your personal credit rating. Your ability to apply for a mortgage or other forms of credit in the future will be unaffected.