Are you worried about the fact that your neighbours may get to know that you have obtained a Trust Deed via Edinburgh Gazette? Well, they have a faint chance of knowing it because The Edinburgh Gazette is not a regular newspaper like The Guardian or FT. It is a specialised bulletin that publishes different legal notices.
The Edinburgh Gazette is published twice a week on Tuesdays and Fridays and it is priced at £88.20, quite expensive than a regular magazine. To add, it is generally circulated among the creditors, people in judicial services, libraries, researchers, and other voluntary sectors.
The Edinburgh Gazette was first published in 1699. Like the London Gazette it is also an official news bulletin of the UK government and it is published from The Stationary Office on behalf of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office in Edinburgh, Scotland.
There are different categories in the Edinburgh Gazette under which legal notices are published. Some of these categories are Parliament, State, Public Finance, Companies & Financial Regulations, Personal Insolvency, Corporate Insolvency, Partnerships, Post & Telecom, Personal Legal, Societies Regulation, Ecclesiastical, Health, Planning, Environment, Water, Energy, Agriculture & Fisheries etc. All these categories have different other sub categories which are formed according to the notice types. Trust Deed is only a sub category under the personal Insolvency.
Thus we can assume that, an individual will go through the Edinburgh Gazette regularly only if he has any vested interest on them. Is there any reason to think that someone other than your creditors and your legal associates would like to know about your trust deed! And is there any reason that your neighbours will regularly buy this gazette regularly to track your financial status?
Another important thing is that though the notices are available online (http://www.edinburgh-gazette.co.uk/) it does not contain information on the amount of debt or the reason behind filing for insolvency. It follows a general format that is targeted towards the creditors (so that they can object to a notice if they wish to do so).
Here is the General Format of a Trust Deed published in Edinburgh Gazette
Trust Deeds have been granted by Mr. XYZ, 55 ABCD, and previously residing at 8 MNOP, and previously residing at 22 QRST, on 12 May 2009, conveying (to the extent specified in section 5(4A) in the Bankruptcy (Scotland) Act 1985) their estates to me, Mr. EFGH, Mr. IJKL, 375 UVWX, as Trustee for the benefit of their Creditors generally.
If a Creditor wishes to object to the Trust Deeds for the purposes of preventing them becoming Protected Trust Deeds (see notes below on the objections required for that purpose) notification of such objection must be delivered in writing to the Trustee within 5 weeks of the date of the publication of this notice in The Edinburgh Gazette.
Notes: The Trust Deeds may become Protected Trust Deeds unless within the period of 5 weeks of the date of publication of this notice in The Edinburgh Gazette a majority in number or not less than one third in value of the Creditors notify the Trustee in writing that they object to the Trust Deeds and do not wish to accede to them.
Briefly, this has the effect of restricting the rights of non-acceding Creditors to do diligence (ie to enforce court decrees for unpaid debts) against the Debtors and confers certain protection upon the Trust Deeds from being superseded by the sequestration of the Debtors’ estates.
So, if an imaginary social stigma is bothering you, forget about it. Take it as a fresh beginning and move on with your life.
If you choose to opt for a Scottish deed trust you will need some professional assistance. The services of an insolvency practitioner also known as a trustee would be needed. The trustee serves as the neutral party between you and your creditors to ensure that the proposal is fair to both parties. Consumers do have the option to approve the deed trust before it is put into action. Then the plan is presented to the creditors for final approval. The plan will be accepted if creditors holding more than a third of the debt do not vote against the proposed plan. Once the plan is approved it is known as protected. This means that all of the creditors must legally abide by the plan.