We are able to provide individuals with general and specific advice regarding:

• Individual Voluntary Arrangements
• Partnership Voluntary Arrangements
• Bankruptcy

Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA)
An IVA is where an offer is made to your creditors which is better than they would receive in bankruptcy. This is a recognised legal procedure that enables an individual to enter into a binding agreement with their creditors, detailing how that individual's debts and liabilities will be dealt with. It allows an individual to retain control of his business or continue life as normal.

In essence, an IVA allows individuals with cash flow difficulties to repay his/her liabilities, either in part or full, depending on what they can comfortably afford (including the Inland Revenue and VAT) over a period of time.

Partnership Voluntary Arrangement (PVA)
There may be situations where a partnership gets into financial difficulty and the individual partners wish to avoid the partnership being petitioned into Liquidation, and therefore the individuals facing bankruptcy, for the following reasons:

• To avoid the stigma of bankruptcy
• To avoid the possibility of losing professional qualifications by virtue of bankruptcy orders where the partners are members of certain professional bodies
• To continue trading the business, in order to generate contributions for the benefit of creditors
• Where the business can be sold as a going concern in order to generate a higher return for the creditors of the business
• Where, as a result of cost savings, the creditors of the business would receive more than if the business were to be placed into liquidation and the individual partners made bankrupt

A PVA is a formal agreement between the partners of the business and partnership creditors which, where the business is inherently profitable, allows the partnership to continue to trade and repay creditors out of future profits or possibly through the orderly sale of assets.

Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy occurs where a creditor presents a bankruptcy petition (a request to the court, seeking an order for your bankruptcy) against you which results in the making of an order by the Court.

Following the making of the order, all of a bankrupt's assets, normally apart from everyday household goods and your tools of the trade, vest in his trustee who realises them for the benefit of the creditors.

Following changes to the law in the Enterprise Act 2002, individuals may, in appropriate circumstances, obtain a discharge from bankruptcy after 12 months.