We moved to the UK for a while away from our US debts and, from the US point of view, we pretty much dropped off the map; we were very careful with paper trails that a skip tracer might follow. I doubt the US creditors would ever have gone to the lengths they would have had to to be able to find us, as we sure didn't make it easy. I probably wouldn't have even bothered filing bankruptcy in the US if my wife hadn't been wanting us to be here at the moment. (If our present bankruptcy case goes horribly awry, we might drop off the map again, with moving to the European Union again, via a name change in a third country, as part of the plan as to how.) So, perhaps you also have the option of simply making yourself hard to find, if your creditors are all very US-based and the debt isn't so enormous as to be worth international detective work.
(Similarly, until I filed in MA, there was no way a skip tracer could have found that I was even in MA -- through driver license records, voting records, bank account or credit card account addresses, rental agencies, anything. The closest I had was a Mail Boxes Etc. mailbox in a different state. A nice thing about filing is I could finally get a valid driver license, register to vote, etc.)
Note that filing bankruptcy in the UK probably wouldn't protect you from your creditors in the US going after US assets unless you did use chapter 15. Otherwise, for the most part, you'd only be protected from collection in other EU countries. (There's some kind of EU-wide reciprocity deal whose name I forget.) And, bankruptcy in the UK is a bigger deal than it is here.
However, also note that, at least if I recall correctly, it is possible for people living overseas to file chapters other than 15 in the US. I don't know if 7 or 13 are an option, or if it'd have to be 11, but I do recall reading that there was a case (forget which district) where the court ruled that actual residence here was not a requirement and that the venue would be where the debtor had most of their US assets. (I'd guess they used Federal exemptions.) In that case, my understanding is that the US-side trustee could use the UK's chapter-15-equivalent (it does have one) to investigate your overseas assets, etc.) So, you may want to consider looking into this, then moving to the UK before filing bankruptcy in the US, leaving some assets in the US (bank account, whatever) that can be used to determine the venue, then doing a regular US filing from the UK. However, the regular Nolo book and a regular bankruptcy mill attorney won't know how to handle or argue this, you'll have to do your own research or retain a more capable attorney. If you really want I could try to dig up that case again.
(Similarly, until I filed in MA, there was no way a skip tracer could have found that I was even in MA -- through driver license records, voting records, bank account or credit card account addresses, rental agencies, anything. The closest I had was a Mail Boxes Etc. mailbox in a different state. A nice thing about filing is I could finally get a valid driver license, register to vote, etc.)
Note that filing bankruptcy in the UK probably wouldn't protect you from your creditors in the US going after US assets unless you did use chapter 15. Otherwise, for the most part, you'd only be protected from collection in other EU countries. (There's some kind of EU-wide reciprocity deal whose name I forget.) And, bankruptcy in the UK is a bigger deal than it is here.
However, also note that, at least if I recall correctly, it is possible for people living overseas to file chapters other than 15 in the US. I don't know if 7 or 13 are an option, or if it'd have to be 11, but I do recall reading that there was a case (forget which district) where the court ruled that actual residence here was not a requirement and that the venue would be where the debtor had most of their US assets. (I'd guess they used Federal exemptions.) In that case, my understanding is that the US-side trustee could use the UK's chapter-15-equivalent (it does have one) to investigate your overseas assets, etc.) So, you may want to consider looking into this, then moving to the UK before filing bankruptcy in the US, leaving some assets in the US (bank account, whatever) that can be used to determine the venue, then doing a regular US filing from the UK. However, the regular Nolo book and a regular bankruptcy mill attorney won't know how to handle or argue this, you'll have to do your own research or retain a more capable attorney. If you really want I could try to dig up that case again.
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