HELP !!! My sister-in-law has recieved a BR order for unpaid council tax that amounted 4.5k. She has recieved a letter from Grant Thornton ? who have stated that to clear the BR order in her name would cost 19k !with all aditional fees - she is a joint owner on her family house which is worth over 100k and she has a joint mortgage with 65k outstanding. What are the options ?
The best advice I can give you is to get your sister in law to get in touch with Grant Thornton as soon as possible. They have probably been appointed trustee of your sister in laws estate and as such she need to sepak with them.
Melanie Nicholas 28 years insolvency experience - 23 of which in the Insolvency Service - Insolvency Manager Jones Giles email me at melanienicholas@jonesgiles.co.uk
Your sister in law should also contact a solicitor with insolvency experience as it may be possible for her to raise the money to clear the bankruptcy if there is sufficient equity in the property to clear all her debts.
sorry to hear of your SIL's position. Sadly this is all too common. Private sector trustee's charge ridiculously high fees which the courts, under current legislation, can do little or nothing about.
It is no coincidence that the fee qouted reflects your SIL's share of the equity in the property. It is often the case that the fee bears no relation to the work carried out by the trustee but is simply set at what the estimated figure if your SIL's interest is ie half the equity. If there had been more, they would charge more. Dispicable!!!
However all may not be lost. Even though your SIL may be a joint mortgagee and a joint owner on the title deeds this does not automatically mean that her interest equals 50%.
If the principles of Equity of Exoneration and/or Equitable Accounting were applied it could well be argued that your sister's interest, or the value of it, is much less than the 50% assumed and could be nothing at all. The onus is on your sister to evidence this possibility for which she would need professional advice.
might I add that if you would like to discuss your SIL's situation further I would be happy to assist. Starting with my giving you a list of questions to ask your SIL which would establish whether or not there may be a case for defending the 50% claim.
You can contact me by calling England Jackman & Spacey on 01258 - 839283, leave a message with the tele answering service asking for me and leaving your name, contact number and quoting reference "Bob 786".
HELP !!!My sister-in-law has recieved a BR order
Posted - 12 May 2009 : 12:49:49
