If personal debts bind your life earnings, know How does a Scottish Trust Deed work because a trust deed is an ultimate solution to ease the debt tension. A trust deed is an ideal debt solution where you pay back a considerate share of the total unsecured debt amount over a set period. After completion of the set duration, any debt left, if any, is written off by the creditor, and you are now debt-free.
A take on reliable Scottish Trust Deeds
Scottish trust deeds are the trust deeds followed in Scotland. Like any other trust deed, it also involves a voluntary agreement between the debtor (you) and the creditor (the one you owe money to). The debtor agrees to repay the creditor a significant portion of the owed amount without any collateral within a specified duration. At the end of the period, the creditor will nullify any outstanding debt.
Scottish trust deed involves a third party, the trustee, other than the debtor and the creditor. After the trust deed is in motion, all your properties (assets) and other belongings are passed to a trustee. The trustee now has the right to your assets to deal with your financial affairs. The role of the trustee is to pay off your debt portion to the creditors through utilising the properties and other belongings in possession. The trustee has the right to acquire and sell your assets to earn the required money.
Protected Trust Deed
There is also a term called “protected trust deed.” A trust deed scotland is defined as protected when the trust deed is satisfactory to the majority of the creditors. A protected trust deed legally binds all the creditors against resorting to further steps to retrieve the money owed to you. They cannot pursue you further for the remaining debt amount. Whereas an unprotected trust deed is not binding to all the creditors, they can resort to any steps to recover their money back from you.
Eligibility criteria for Scottish Trust Deed
Like every other legal, financial agreement, there are a few qualifications criteria for opting for a Scottish trust deed. You must fulfill the below criteria if you want to go for a trust deed.
- You must be a resident in Scotland.
- You should have at least one debt.
- Your debt amount should be equal to, or over €5,000.
- You should have a regular income source to make regular payments.
- You have to own property (assets) and belongings like investments, a house, a car, or additional savings. The money raised after selling these assets is paid to the creditors.
Therefore, to utilise the benefits of a Scottish trust deed and remove the weight of your debts, you have to qualify for the given criteria. In the meantime, you can go over the working process of a Scottish trust deed. You can also find the pros and cons of the Scottish trust deed and finalise your decision for the same.
How does a Scottish Trust Deed work ?
Typical trust deed chiefly operates in four phases:
Phase 1 – Looking for debt advisors.
When you contact a debt advisor for a Scottish trust deed, you will have to answer a few questions of theirs. The advisors will inquire about your financial situation, such as your income, debts, bills, and assets in your name. This information enables debt advisors to understand your financial affairs better.
After assessing your situation, they will provide you with probable debt solutions. You will also get a detailed explanation of the debt solutions along with their pros and cons. When all facts are put forward, you can decide on your choice and counter ask any questions to the advisors to make a better-informed choice.
Phase 2 – Processing of the Scottish trust deed.
After you have informed the debt advisors of your chosen debt solution, you have to provide them with necessary documents, including payslips, household bills, bank statements, and benefit award letters, if any. These submitted documents are proof of your recorded income and expenses. This information will later be evaluated to determine your regular monthly payment amount.
Another step for homeowners is their property. Assuming that you own quality assets, they will also be included in an additional written plan for assessment. You also can open a new bank account. After all the collected information, your trustee will set up the trust deed document defining the operation process. Make sure that you read the document correctly.
As the trust deed is legalised, your trustee will contact the creditors about the payment proposals. Your details will then be included in the Register of Insolvencies in Scotland.
Phase 3 – Review and changes.
After your trust deed is in motion, the trust deed provider may conduct occasional reviews on an annual basis. In this review, they will ask for your payslips and bank statements to verify your updated income and expenses. Any changes in your financial situation will increase or decrease in the trust deed payment.
If you face any significant changes in your financial situation before the annual review date, you should directly inform your trustee of the same.
Phase 4 – Closure and discharge
A typical trust deed lasts for four years (48 months). After four years, when the agreement is over, your discharge involves two extra steps:
- As the trust deed is stated as closed, you get discharged from the agreement. You are now free from any legally binding rules and restrictions. Your discharge is updated on the Recorder of Insolvencies. You can now proceed to improve your affected credit ratings.
- After your discharge, the trustee stays in agreement until all the related work on your case is settled. Even if the trustee’s discharge takes longer than expected, it won’t affect you in any way.
Pros of Scottish Trust Deed
As an ultimate statutory debt agreement solution, the Scottish trust deed’s advantages, or say, benefits are many.
- Legal protection against creditors
Since a trust deed scotland is a legally binding agreement, a protected trust deed favours the debtors against unprecedented action by the creditors.
- Write-off debt
When the tenure for a Scottish trust deed is complete, the creditors write off any unpaid debt amount. They cannot demand the remaining amount from you.
- Help deal with creditors
In the agreement between you and the creditors, a trustee acts as a liaison. So, instead of you, your trustee will handle the creditors and financial affairs. You do not have to be in touch with the creditors.
- Regular monthly payments
You do not make direct payments to the creditors in a trust deed. Instead, you will make regular monthly payments to your trustee, and the latter will handle the further payments involving the creditors. Your money is kept in an insured client account, so they are in safe hands.
- Flexible formats
The trust deed payments are amenable if your financial situation changes. You can also go for short-term payment holidays if there is any financial emergency.
- Ability to borrow money
Even if you have an ongoing Scottish trust deed, no legal law binds you to borrow more credit. You can still obtain credit cards or mortgages, although the process might be a little bit difficult.
- Protection of pension funds
If you have approved a pension scheme, its money is safe from the trust deed agreement. The trustee does not have the right to withdraw the pension funds to pay off the creditors. However, you should not draw any money from the pension fund before being discharged from the trust deed agreement. If you do, that money will be at risk.
- Freeze the interest charges
During the trust deed, the debt level does not increase. The question of interest applies only if you become capable of affording the debt amount.
Cons of Scottish Trust Deed
Pertaining to the individual situation, the drawbacks of trust deed varies.
- Negative effect on credit rating
From the date the trust deed commences, your credit rating will be affected for the next six years. That will limit your scope to get further credit. Even if you manage to score credit in the future, the terms might be affected.
- Cooperation
If you do not cooperate as per the trust deed agreement, your trustee can apply for your bankruptcy.
- Restricted expenditures
Your expenses will be restricted as your leftover money will go towards debt payment. The trustee sets your savings amount and the monthly payment following the standard expenditure guidelines.
- Employment situation
If you choose to enter this personal insolvency agreement, you will be barred from certain types of employment. You can also not run your own business if any. If you run a company before the trust deed, the trustee can decide whether to appoint another to run the business or sell it.
- Newly acquired property or money
If you happen to acquire any new property or asset or have found a new income source within four years after the start of your trust deed scotland , the trustee has the right to claim them, such as the inheritance money or property.
- Sell your assets
Depending on the trust deed and the debt amount, your trustee has the option to sell your assets to raise repayment money.
Conclusively, other than the Scottish trust deed, there are also other alternative debt solutions that you can ask about from the debt advisors in uk.
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