Dismissal From Bankruptcy

Dismissal from bankruptcy can occur for a number of reasons, the main one being that the debtor has completed the bankruptcy period of a year. The other reasons for dismissal can be due to the creditor asking the court to dismiss the bankruptcy order or the debtor disputes the case and the court finds in their favour.

If the dismissal has taken place because you have reached the end of the order you will be notified of your Bankruptcy Discharge as a matter of course.

You still need to be aware that dismissal is not automatic if you have failed to adhere to the order under the supervision of the:

• Liquidator
• Trustee
• Insolvency Practitioner

If they choose to petition the court on the grounds of your unreasonable behaviour they can have your bankruptcy dismissal delayed indefinitely. On the flip side, however, If you manage to repay your obligations before the end of the bankruptcy order the person in charge of ensuring you adhere to the order can petition the court for early dismissal or annulment.

Again, once dismissed you get a certificate of completion and discharge but this is not automatic. You will need to apply for this document by writing to the court who ordered the bankruptcy around four weeks before you are due to be discharged, enclosing all the relevant information regarding your case along with a small fee. At present the fee for this certificate is around £60 with an additional fee of £1 per official copy. Another option to let people know you have been Discharged from Bankruptcy is to ask the official receiver that has been working with you to advertise the dismissal in the press. Again, there will be a charge for this and you will have to pay the cost of the publication up-front.

Your Home Needs Discharging too

When you are dismissed from bankruptcy by the court you will need to contact the Land Registry and have your home removed from their files. This does not happen automatically on discharge. The court does not need to inform them of your dismissal, you do, or your home will remain tagged making it difficult to see in the future. You will need to contact the Land Charges Department of the Land Registry to have the entry removed. However, when you are dismissed the court does have to provide you with an order to show to the land registry giving them permission to remove your home from their files. Make sure you have this paperwork - if you don’t talk to the courts and ask for advice.

Warning!

Due to changes in the law, if your discharge was delayed, often referred to as suspended, before the 1st April 2004 then you should contact the official receivers office that dealt with your case and ask for information on when and how you can be discharged. Bankruptcy orders since that date are now only active for between two and fifteen years, whereas before that date there were no limits.

When you have been discharged, or dismissed from bankruptcy, make sure that you do not end up in the situation again as courts do not look favourably on second-time-bankrupts and will not be so understanding when making an order. You may find yourself in very deep water, even facing criminal charges.