Let us say that a creditor has a county court judgment against you and that you cannot pay the debt and that you have been unable to reach agreement with the creditor to pay it off over time.
Let us also say that the creditor has issued a bankruptcy petition and the bankruptcy hearing is scheduled to take place in the next couple of days or weeks. You would like to consider alternative options to bankruptcy such as an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA) but the court hearing is looming. What can you do?
What you need is time and the way to buy some time is to ask the judge for an adjournment of the bankruptcy hearing to allow an insolvency practitioner (IP) to look at your case. Most judges will grant such an adjournment. It would be nice to be able to say that all judges would do so but because of the independence of the judiciary, it would be presumptuous to claim that no judge would refuse such a request. You may even have time before the bankruptcy hearing to authorize an IP to act for you and to fax the court confirming the appointment, if the judge so requires.
Assuming you are granted the adjournment, you have time to consult with an IP and to authorize him or her to act on your behalf. If an IVA is a suitable alternative option to bankruptcy, an IVA proposal can be drafted and lodged in court in advance of the adjourned bankruptcy hearing. Normally the bankruptcy hearing will be adjourned again until the Meeting of Creditors to consider your IVA proposal has been held. Should your IVA be approved the bankruptcy petition would have to be withdrawn.