Thats a complicated question. Firstly you need to be confident that you can afford to keep the house otherwise you would be better off selling it.

There is help available from the government and you can find out all about it from the CAB or from the Housing helpline Shelter at www.shelter.org.

Secondly, if your husband goes bankrupt.

All his debts will be dealt with by the Official Receiver - you would have to deal with a) your debts and b) any joint debts. Are any of the debts in joint names? If so you become liable for the whole of that debt.

All his assets will be dealt by the Official Receiver - this includes assets such as cars and most importantly the house.

His share of the equity in the house - if there is any will "belong" to the OR.

If there is no other way of getting the money the OR can order the sale of the house (within 1-3 years) and take his half to pay into your husbands bankruptcy and then give you your half.

As you can imagine no -one wants that to happen if it can be avoided so the OR will offer you or a third party (relative, or perhaps a housing association) the chance to buy your husband out of the house and get the money that way.

So it really depends how much equity there is in your house.

Bankruptcy is a complex subject, you should also consider the alternatives such as debt management and IVAs.

The insolvency service have a website with a great deal of information on it including leaflets such as "What will happen to my home."

http://www.insolvency.gov.uk/pdfs/guidanceleafletspdf/home.pdf

But we have a house that is in joint names that we can't sell as it's in negative equity. The house is being rented at the moment so we're in no rush to sell it - however my husband is potentially going to be made bankrupt. What will happen to the house? If we're made to sell it whilst it's in negative equity we will be left with a big chunk of money on the mortgage - will this be written off under his bankruptcy?
Thanks