To make sure that not all debt

To make sure that not all debt is being passed to one of the parties whilst the couple continues to live well off a substantial surplus from the other partner. Include all income When a consumer applies for Debt Counselling all the consumer’s income has to be included. This is defined in Section 78(3) as follows: “In this part, “financial means, prospects and obligations’, with respect to a consumer or prospective consumer, includes:

a) income, or any right to receive income, regardless of the source, frequency or regularity of that income, other than income that the consumer or prospective consumer receives, has a right to receive, or holds in trust for another person;

b) the financial means, prospects and obligation of any other adult person within the consumer’s immediate family or household, to the extent that the consumer, or prospective consumer, and that other person customarily:-

c) if the consumer has or had a commercial purpose for applying for or entering into a particular credit agreement, the reasonably estimated future revenue flow from that business purpose.” It is recommended that Debt Counsellors obtain a full picture of the total income of the household. To achieve this it is important to understand who is part of the household and what their income is. This will assist the Debt Counsellor to determine the proportional responsibility of household expenses. The abovementioned can be achieved by including the appropriate contributions to household income or by reducing the applicant’s contribution to household expenses in proportion to household income. Full disclosure of household income is recommended in the debt review process.