Will we lose our home?

If you have a joint mortgage then you are joint owners so you will not have to sell the house to pay the debts. A partner or wife cannot be responsible for the others debts unless you are a shareholder in the business. You cannot be made homeless. However if your partner is forced into bankruptcy then he will not be in a very good position to pay his share of the mortgage and other costs such as electricity,gas, council tax etc and you will then loose the house by payment default. Sorry to hear your troubles as I have been a sole trader for many years but managed to get customers to pay up on time.

Go and get independent advice from the CAB if you don't have a solicitor.

Take all your details, loans, bank deatils, income etc and ask what your options are.

Look at the sole trader issue, is the business viable without the debts?

Can you pay the loan that is set against the house that was made to support the business by getting help from your family?

If the business is viable just badly managed then make sure you have a business plan you can take to a bank and see if you can consolidate the loans for the business.

Sorry can't give a better answer, hope it works out okay.

PS make sure you get anybody who owes you money to pay up asap cash flow is really important in this situation.

This is serious - normally a spouse is not accountable for a partner's personal debt unless they have co-signed on a loan, in which case you are BOTH liable.. plus you used your house as collateral which again is a big no no.

The short answer is YES you could lose your home BUT there are things you can do to stop this happening and becoming reality. Speak to the National Debt Helpline as soon as you can - even the biggest mess financially can be sorted out and I'll bet they have seen it all before.

I feel really bad for you - through no fault of your own you are in this extremely upsetting situation - but chin up girl and do as we women always do - when the going gets tough...

Oh and get that man of yours out working all hours to dig himself out the mess he has got you both into - shame on him - had he told you at the time I bet you would have never let it get to this stage..

Oh (again! lol) and do you happen to have somewhat affluent parents/in laws - if so it might be more prudent to borrow what you need from them to keep the wolves from the door - just tell them how it is - no sugar coating and they will (if they can) hopefully rescue you both.

Best of luck.

Well if he is made bankrupt then the creditors might insist on the house being sold to defray debts. If they obtain a court order there is not a lot you can do . Depends on the value of the house, the outstanding mortgage and debts as to whether there is any money left at the end of the day.

You have to do many things.

First off all: Take control of his business.

Unfortunatley he seems not to be capable of running a business.

If you do not want him to ruin your life, you have to step in and take control of his business.

Consider even proffessional Help.

You can't sort out what you don't know about.

So learn everything about this situation what there is.

Communication is important!

Talk to him and do not make steps above his head.

Make sure that he understands that he has a resposibility to fullfill.

You are in this situation together want it or not and the only way out is together.

After you done that, ensure that things like that don't happen again and life a peaceful life.

Maybe switching of the TV 3 days a week would be a good thing for encurraging a conversation!!

Take control of your life and you'll be fine.

Assuming you are in the UK - You should do two things immediately:

1) your husband should contact Business Debt line - it's a free & confidential service - 0800 197 6026

2) you should go to your local Citizens Advice Bureau and ask for advice about what you can do to about the potential threat of losing your home.

Don't delay - early intervention in debt issues is crucial.

Good luck.

They can lien the house and force sale to repay the debt. If your not married then at least you would still have rights to your part of the house. You can also share in the $ sale of the house. Really doesn't matter, but your not considered the debtor in that ordeal. But another party.

Unless you have a lot of equity in your home you are probably okay. Your partner needs to consult a bankruptcy lawyer before it is to late.

Could you refinance in your name only?