Notes for Guidance - Protected Trust Deeds - Bankruptcy (Scotland) Act 2016

The day following the date of publication in the ROI is considered the first day of the “relevant period” for submission of creditors’ responses. The relevant period is five weeks. If a trust deed advertisement is published on a Tuesday, the relevant period ends at midnight on the following fifth Tuesday. 

A creditor’s response must be received by the trustee before the end of the relevant period for it to be considered.

AiB’s trust deed case management system ASTRA, and the ROI, are updated on the day after the end of the five week relevant period. Creditor responses received after the end of the relevant period cannot be recorded on ASTRA.    

The trust deed may be protected if, during the relevant period, the creditors who submitted objections:

• do not constitute a majority in number of the creditors
• do not constitute one third or greater in value of creditors

A creditor who has not submitted a response by the end of the last day of the relevant period, is deemed to have acceded to the trust deed being granted protected status, in accordance with Section 170(2) of the 2016 Act.

The value of creditors is determined by the value of their claims; see section 228(6) of the 2016 Act. This does not require that the creditors claim be submitted within the relevant period.

If there are insufficient objections to prevent the protection of a trust deed at the end of the relevant period, any creditor who was sent the documents (referred to in section 3.2) but did not respond, will be deemed to have acceded to the trust deed.

Where a request has been made to exclude the dwelling-house and the creditors agree to protect the trust deed the dwelling-house will not be conveyed to the trustee. 

Where a request has been made to exclude the dwelling-house and the creditors refuse to protect the trust deed the trust deed will remain unprotected and the trustee should consider what steps are necessary and appropriate to be taken in those circumstances.