Should You Choose Sequestration Or Minimal Asset Process Bankruptcy?
You do not really choose. The Minimal Asset Process has eight conditions in section 2(2) of the Bankruptcy (Scotland) Act 2016, and failing any one of them leaves full administration as the debtor route.
Both are sequestration. A Minimal Asset Process is not a lighter alternative to bankruptcy, and your estate vests in a trustee either way.
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Free, confidential and no obligation.Where you do qualify, a money adviser will normally route you to a Minimal Asset Process, because it is free, shorter and simpler. How sequestration works covers the machinery that is common to both.
What follows is the eight conditions, the cost, the length, and the point at which a case can be moved from one route to the other.
What is the difference between the two routes?
One statute, two gateways. Schedule 1 to the 2016 Act strips a Minimal Asset Process back, so creditors are notified but there are no claims, no dividends and no creditor meeting.
Side by side
| The point | Minimal Asset Process | Full administration |
|---|---|---|
| The gateway | Section 2(2), with eight conditions | Section 2(8), or a creditor or trust deed petition |
| Debt limit | Not more than £25,000, leaving student loan debt out | No ceiling, and at least £3,000 on a debtor application |
| Asset limits | £2,000 in total, and no single asset over £1,000 | None |
| Owning land | An absolute bar under section 2(2)(e) | Permitted |
| Application fee | None at all since 6 February 2023 | £150, and not payable on prescribed benefits or with no surplus income |
| Your trustee | Always the Accountant in Bankruptcy | The Accountant in Bankruptcy, or a qualified insolvency practitioner |
| Your contribution | A debtor contribution order is still made, and it is set at nil | Assessed with the common financial tool, normally over 48 months |
| Discharge | Automatic six months after the award, under section 140(1) | A decision the Accountant in Bankruptcy may make at any time after twelve months |
| Applying again by debtor application | Ten years before another Minimal Asset Process | Five years after any award of sequestration |
Because Schedule 1 removes the creditor vote on the trustee, the Accountant in Bankruptcy is always the trustee in a Minimal Asset Process. Its own guide for MAP debtors sets out what that means in practice.
What the two routes have in common
Both produce an award of sequestration, a public entry on the Register of Insolvencies and the restrictions that go with being an undischarged bankrupt. Both vest your whole estate in a trustee.
Both also carry the four-year acquirenda window, so property you acquire afterwards can still vest. What discharge does and does not end covers the parts of a case that outlive it.
Who actually qualifies for a Minimal Asset Process?
Somebody who meets all eight conditions, not two of them. Section 2(2) is a list with no discretion in it, and the single-asset cap and the land bar catch people at least as often as the headline figures.
The eight conditions
| The condition | What it requires | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Your income | The common financial tool shows no contribution is required, or you have received prescribed payments for at least six months and have no other income | Section 2(2)(a) with regulation 13 |
| Your debts | Not more than £25,000, and student loan debt is left out of the calculation | Sections 2(2)(b) and 2(2A) |
| Your assets in total | Not more than £2,000 | Section 2(2)(c) |
| Any single asset | Not more than £1,000 | Section 2(2)(d) |
| Land | You must not own land, and there is no carve-out for a share of a property | Section 2(2)(e) |
| A certificate for sequestration | Granted within the prescribed period | Section 2(2)(f) |
| A previous Minimal Asset Process | None in the 10 years ending the day before you apply | Section 2(2)(g) |
| Any other previous award | None in the 5 years ending the day before you apply | Section 2(2)(h) |
Student loan debt does not count towards the £25,000 limit. Section 2(2A), which has applied since 29 March 2021, leaves it out of the calculation.
Almost nobody publishes that. Which debts count towards the limit goes through it, and whether you are eligible runs each condition against your own figures.
The benefits route has a gate people miss
Regulation 13(2) of the Bankruptcy (Scotland) Regulations 2016 applies only where the debtor has no other income than the listed payments at the date of the application.
So part-time earnings alongside universal credit take you out of that route, however long you have been on the benefit. You would need the nil-contribution route in section 2(2)(a)(i) instead.
Two things that are no longer true
No minimum debt is currently prescribed for the Minimal Asset Process. The old £1,500 floor stopped applying on 6 February 2023, though the power to set one again remains.
You cannot make a debtor application while a protected trust deed is still running. Section 172(1)(b) rules it out for as long as the deed subsists.
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Free, confidential and no obligation.What does each route cost?
Nothing and £150. SSI 2023/9 removed the Minimal Asset Process application fee entirely on 6 February 2023, and full administration carries £150 with two exemptions.
The fee
There is no fee to apply for Minimal Asset Process bankruptcy. The fee that used to apply was removed on 6 February 2023, and the Accountant in Bankruptcy’s own guidance lists no application fee.
The application fee is £150, and it is not payable if you receive certain prescribed benefits or the common financial tool shows you have no surplus income.
These are exemptions rather than favours, and they operate where the condition is met. What sequestration costs sets out the whole figure and who pays it.
The bigger number is what comes out of your income
A debtor contribution order is made in every sequestration under section 90(1). Because a Minimal Asset Process debtor has already been assessed as requiring no contribution, the order is fixed at zero, which section 90(4) expressly permits.
A debtor contribution order is set using the common financial tool, so it is calculated from what your budget shows you can afford rather than from what you owe.
It normally runs for 48 months, which is longer than the twelve months to discharge. The payments carry on after you are discharged.
Which tool does the assessment
Regulation 15(1) names it. How a contribution is calculated works through the arithmetic.
The prescribed tool is the Common Financial Statement, under regulation 15(1) of the Bankruptcy (Scotland) Regulations 2016.
Most sources name the Standard Financial Statement, which is the tool used elsewhere in the United Kingdom. Regulations that would have moved Scotland to it were drafted in 2018 and never made.
How long does each one last?
Six months against twelve, and the twelve is not a deadline. Section 140(1) discharges a Minimal Asset Process debtor automatically, while section 137(2) gives the Accountant in Bankruptcy a power exercisable at any time after twelve months.
The timetable side by side
| The date | Minimal Asset Process | Full administration |
|---|---|---|
| Six months from the award | A Minimal Asset Process debtor is discharged, automatically | Nothing happens on this date in a full administration |
| Twelve months from the award | Already discharged, with the section 146 conditions running | The earliest date on which the Accountant in Bankruptcy may discharge you |
| Twelve months from discharge | The section 146 conditions have ended, six months after discharge | Discharge may still not have happened, and there is a review and an appeal if it is refused |
| Four years from the date of sequestration | Property you acquire is still vesting in the trustee | The same four-year window applies |
| Forty-eight months from the first payment | Not applicable, because the order is set at nil | A debtor contribution order normally runs for this long, and past discharge |
Discharge normally comes twelve months after the award.
It is a decision rather than a date. Sections 137 and 138 give a discretion exercisable at any time after twelve months, with a review and an appeal if it goes against you.
The six months after a MAP discharge
Section 146 then applies for a further six months, so the restriction period is a year in total.
For six months from the date of discharge you must tell anyone providing you with credit that you are required to comply with the section 146 conditions, before obtaining credit of £2,000 or more, or any amount at all while you owe £1,000 or more.
A first failure to comply extends the restriction period from six months to twelve. The offence arises only on a further failure during that extended period.
Neither discharge closes the case
Discharge frees you from the debts it covers, but it does not end the sequestration. Your trustee carries on, a debtor contribution order carries on, and the estate is still being dealt with.
A student loan is the sharpest illustration of that on the MAP side. National Debtline’s Scottish bankruptcy guide covers what survives, and the asymmetry is worth stating plainly.
A student loan is left out of the £25,000 test on the way in and is still owed on the way out.
Can a Minimal Asset Process be moved to full administration?
Yes, and it happens more often than people expect. Paragraph 2 of Schedule 1 lets the Accountant in Bankruptcy determine that the modifications cease to apply, which turns the case into a full administration.
The two usual triggers
Money and assets. Either you are assessed as able to make a contribution, or your total assets go above the prescribed figure.
Watch the figure. Paragraph 2(5)(a) reads £5,000 on the face of the Act, and regulation 14 prescribes £2,000 in its place, which lines up with the entry test.
What conversion changes
You lose the automatic six-month discharge and pick up a contribution period. What happens if your income improves and how a transfer to full administration works both go through it.
An inheritance arriving in month two is nobody’s fault and is not treated as misconduct. Not reporting it is a different matter, and it is a criminal offence.
What if you own a car, savings or a share of a property?
Land rules a Minimal Asset Process out completely, a qualifying vehicle is disregarded and savings count in full. Section 2(3) does the disregarding, and it applies to both asset caps at once.
Where each thing lands
| What you own | In a Minimal Asset Process | In full administration |
|---|---|---|
| A house, a flat or any land | An absolute bar on a Minimal Asset Process | Permitted, and the trustee deals with your interest in it |
| A vehicle you reasonably require, worth £3,000 or less | Left out of both the £2,000 total and the £1,000 single-asset cap, under section 2(3)(b) | The Accountant in Bankruptcy's guidance says a vehicle at that value may be kept |
| A vehicle worth more than £3,000 | Counts in full, and on its own breaches the £1,000 single-asset cap | May be sold by the trustee |
| Savings | Counted, and the Accountant in Bankruptcy looks across all your accounts | Part of the estate. There is no protected amount of money |
| Tools of your trade | Property that would not vest in a trustee is left out of account under section 2(3)(a) | Section 88 protects particular articles rather than a sum of money |
| A pension | Not addressed by the Act, the regulations or published guidance | Ask your money adviser about your own arrangement |
There is no protected amount of savings. Section 88 exempts particular articles such as clothing and tools of trade, and it does not exempt money.
The Accountant in Bankruptcy’s evidence checklist treats savings above £1,000 across all your accounts as defeating a Minimal Asset Process application. That is its practice rather than something the Act states.
Three things nothing published answers
Nothing sets out how an asset is to be valued for these limits. Section 2(4) allows valuation regulations to be made and none ever has been, so ask your money adviser how yours will be treated.
No source addresses how a jointly owned item is counted, whether at its full value or at your share of it. A joint bank account is the case most people ask about and it is not answered anywhere published.
Whether a pension counts towards the asset limits is not addressed by the Act, the regulations or the Accountant in Bankruptcy’s guidance.
That is not evasion, it is the state of the published material. How assets are valued against the £2,000 limit sets out what is and is not established.
Who decides which route you take?
A money adviser prepares the application and grants the certificate, and the Accountant in Bankruptcy makes the award. You cannot make a debtor application at all without money advice first.
What the adviser is actually doing
Applying section 2(2) to your figures, in order, and stopping at the first condition you fail. That is why the conversation is about evidence rather than preference.
Take a full debt list including interest, every account balance, and the dates of any previous award. How long you must wait before being sequestrated again explains why the award date matters more than the discharge date.
How common each route is
The Accountant in Bankruptcy awarded 2,976 sequestrations in 2025-26, up 19.9 per cent on the year before, made up of 2,415 debtor applications and 561 creditor petitions.
The median debt in 2025-26 was £32,100 in a full administration sequestration and £12,400 in a Minimal Asset Process case.
Where to get it done free
Citizens Advice Scotland, StepChange, National Debtline and Advice Direct Scotland all do this work at no charge, as do most council money advice teams. Whether you are eligible for a Minimal Asset Process is the question to take to them first.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Minimal Asset Process still bankruptcy?
Yes, it is a sequestration under section 2(2) of the Bankruptcy (Scotland) Act 2016, so your estate vests in a trustee and the usual restrictions apply. It is not a separate remedy sitting outside bankruptcy.
Can you pick the Minimal Asset Process because it is shorter?
Only if you meet all eight conditions in section 2(2). A money adviser applies those conditions to your figures, and an application that does not meet them cannot proceed as a Minimal Asset Process.
Is there a minimum debt for a Minimal Asset Process?
No minimum is currently prescribed. The old £1,500 floor stopped applying on 6 February 2023, and the £3,000 figure people quote is the full-administration debt floor in section 2(8)(a).
Does a student loan count towards the £25,000 limit?
No, and section 2(2A) has left it out of the calculation since 29 March 2021, which is why the limit can still be met by someone with a large loan. It is not written off at the end either.
Do you pay anything during a Minimal Asset Process?
There is no application fee and the debtor contribution order is set at nil. Post-award liabilities such as rent, council tax and utility bills still have to be paid in full.
What happens if your income goes up during a Minimal Asset Process?
Paragraph 2 of Schedule 1 lets the Accountant in Bankruptcy end the modifications where you can make a contribution, and the case then continues as a full administration. You must report the change to your trustee.
Can you go from full administration back to a Minimal Asset Process?
The Schedule 1 provision runs one way only, from a Minimal Asset Process to full administration. If you think you have been put in the wrong route, raise it with your money adviser or the Accountant in Bankruptcy.
Does either route stop a wage arrestment?
Both do. An earnings arrestment, current maintenance arrestment or conjoined arrestment order ceases to have effect on the date of sequestration under section 72(2) of the Debtors (Scotland) Act 1987, and a Minimal Asset Process is a sequestration.
Related guides
- Are You Eligible For Minimal Asset Process Bankruptcy? The eight conditions in section 2(2), how the income and benefits routes differ, and how your assets are measured against the limits.
- Can Your MAP Bankruptcy Be Transferred To Full Administration? What a transfer changes, what triggers one, what happens to the automatic six-month discharge and to payments, and how to challenge the decision.
- How Much Does Sequestration Cost In Scotland? The four costs of a sequestration, when the £150 fee is not payable, where the trustee is paid from, and the costs that are not money.
- Does Discharge From Sequestration End Everything After 12 Months? What discharge releases, what keeps running afterwards, how the trustee's own discharge differs, and when yours can be delayed.
- How Are Your Assets Valued Against The £2,000 MAP Limit? The two asset tests, which belongings are left out of the count, how a car is valued against the £3,000 disregard, and what happens if you go over.
- What Happens If Your Income Improves During MAP Bankruptcy? What you must tell the Accountant in Bankruptcy, when better income moves your case out of a MAP, and how a windfall or inheritance is treated.
- Which Debts Count Towards The MAP Bankruptcy Debt Limit? Why a student loan stays out of the £25,000 total, which debts go into it, and how the debt limit differs from the £2,000 asset test.
- How Is A Debtor Contribution Order Calculated In Sequestration? How the common financial tool sets your surplus, what spending can be allowed above the triggers, and what a payment break does.
- How Long Must You Wait Before You Can Be Sequestrated Again? The five-year and ten-year waiting periods, when the clock starts, whether a creditor can still petition, and the routes open while you wait.
- How Does Sequestration Work In Scotland? The three routes in, who becomes your trustee, what you pay, what happens to the things you own, and what discharge does not clear.
Written as general information about Scottish debt law rather than regulated financial or legal advice, and your own circumstances may change the answer. Free, impartial help is available from Citizens Advice Scotland, StepChange, National Debtline and Advice Direct Scotland.