Your assets must be worth no more than £2,000 in total under section 2(2)(c), and no single item may be worth more than £1,000 under section 2(2)(d).

Both tests, and both have to be passed

Section 2(2)(c) caps the total on the date the application is made, and section 2(2)(d) caps any single asset. Failing either one is enough.

Liabilities are left out of account, so this is a gross value test. Money in an account counts at face value however much you owe elsewhere.

What section 2(3) removes, and what it does not

Section 2(3)(a) takes out anything that would be excluded from vesting in the trustee, and section 2(3)(b) disregards a qualifying vehicle worth no more than £3,000.

Cash is in none of those categories. It is simply counted, and both caps have stood unamended since 30 November 2016.

The tests savings run into

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.

Read which test that is being applied to

AiB is measuring pooled savings against the £1,000 single-asset cap rather than the £2,000 total. That is stricter than reading the two subsections separately would suggest.

The checklist also asks for statements for all bank accounts held by the debtor, verifying the balance at the date of signing.

The near-£1,000 rule people miss

Where a balance comes near £1,000 at any point in a statement period, the checklist says verification of the balance at the date of signing will be requested.

So a wage or a benefit payment landing the day before signing can matter. Have the statements ready rather than waiting to be asked.

Where a screenshot will and will not do

The checklist accepts a screenshot only where it shows the date of the balance together with the account number and your name and address.

No, and that is worth knowing. The Act speaks of the total value of the debtor’s assets and of no single asset, and section 2 defines neither.

The power that was never used

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.

So nothing tells you how a “single asset” is identified, which is precisely the question aggregating two accounts answers. How assets are valued sets out how little is published.

What that means in practice

AiB applies the practice, so treating £1,000 as the working ceiling is sensible. What you cannot do is find a provision that says so.

If your position is arguable, get it decided by your adviser and by AiB before the application is signed. Afterwards is far harder.

The joint account is the sharpest case

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.

AiB’s only published guidance on joint ownership concerns the family home, which cannot arise in a MAP at all. What happens to a jointly owned asset goes through every source that was checked.

Not as a matter of law. Section 78(1) vests your estate in the trustee and nothing in the Act instructs a bank to do anything.

What the Act actually requires

Section 86(9) requires the trustee to serve a written notice on any bank holding vested funds, identifying the debtor and the funds.

Section 86(8) then protects the bank for transactions entered into before that notice arrives. That provision exists because a bank may lawfully carry on until it is told.

What the official guidance says a bank may do

mygov.scot says credit reference agencies give banks a daily list of new bankruptcies, and that a bank may freeze or close an account.

The Accountant in Bankruptcy puts it the same way, adding that a bank may still allow wages or benefits to be paid in.

Both say may, and nothing published establishes how often it happens. Whether your bank account is frozen in a MAP sets out the whole position.

Plan for it rather than around it

mygov.scot advises keeping money for essential living costs accessible when you apply, in case an account becomes unavailable.

It vests in the trustee. Section 86 vests property acquired after the date of sequestration in the trustee at the date of acquisition, with no lower figure written in.

What that covers

Money put aside during the six months, an inheritance, a windfall and a compensation payment can all fall into it. Nothing has to go to court for that to happen.

The guide for MAP debtors tells you to report income changes, money received and inheritances, and that is AiB’s requirement rather than a section of the Act.

Why a windfall can end the MAP

Paragraph 2 of Schedule 1 lets AiB consider ending the MAP modifications where total assets exceed the prescribed figure after the application date.

That figure reads £5,000 on the face of the Act, but regulation 14 prescribes £2,000 in its place, and £2,000 is what operates.

Reporting is the part you control

Telling the trustee early costs you nothing and keeps the decision an ordinary one. Having it discovered later is what leads to an allegation of concealment.

AiB also warns that a transfer caused by inaccurate information can bring an additional administration charge, with discharge held back until it is paid.

What conversion changes

The automatic six-month discharge disappears and becomes a decision AiB may take at any time after twelve months from the original award. Creditor claims become live.

A contribution order can also start, running for 48 months from the first payment. Whether a MAP can be transferred to full administration covers each consequence, and what happens if your income improves covers the other trigger.

An ISA is money you own and gets no disregard in section 2(3). Policies are counted at surrender value, and pensions are the one genuine gap.

Each holding, and where the answer comes from

A policy is the holding people forget

AiB’s guidance on assets tells advisers to establish any immediate realisation value, and says a surrender value above £1,000 makes a debtor ineligible for a MAP.

A policy you have half forgotten about is a real risk. Ask the provider for the figure in writing before anything is signed.

Pensions are not answered at all

Whether a pension counts towards the asset limits is not addressed by the Act, the regulations or the Accountant in Bankruptcy’s guidance.

What is published is that a pension in payment is classed as income, and whether you lose your pension in a MAP sets out how far the sources go.

Disclose everything and let your adviser plan the timing. Full disclosure is the legal requirement and the thing most likely to keep an application on track.

The preparation that matters

What you must not do

Concealing or disposing of part of your estate is an offence under section 218(3) and (4), unless you show it was not done to prejudice your creditors. It can also lead to a bankruptcy restrictions order lasting years.

It also defeats the point, because the checklist asks for statements covering the run-up rather than a single day.

Tell your adviser what is coming, not just what is there

A redundancy payment or a compensation settlement in the pipeline changes the arithmetic twice over. It affects the entry tests and it can convert the case afterwards.

None of that is a reason to delay getting advice. It is a reason to raise it at the first appointment.

If your savings put you outside a MAP

That is a planning question rather than a dead end. Full administration sequestration, a protected trust deed and a debt payment programme all remain, and whether you are eligible for a MAP runs through the conditions.

A car is the other holding with its own rule, covered at whether you can keep your car, and the debt side is at which debts count towards the limit.