The High Court has delivered a further judgment concerning the bankruptcy of Mr Jones (the order having been made by an adjudicator in December 2021), following its earlier decision in October 2025.
Two questions required determination:
- Whether the adjudicator had jurisdiction to make the bankruptcy order
- Whether the order ought to have been made in light of the position of the estate.
On the first issue, the court held that Mr Jones had not acquired a domicile of choice in Austria. Although he lived and worked there, his circumstances were marked by significant instability arising from family proceedings, financial pressures and the wider effects of the pandemic. He therefore lacked the settled and indefinite intention required to displace his English domicile of origin.
On the second issue, the court concluded that the bankruptcy order nonetheless ought not to have been made. At the time of the order, all material assets were located in Austria, and there was no realistic prospect that the trustees could recover those assets because Austrian law would not recognise an English bankruptcy based solely on domicile. As a result, English creditors were prevented from enforcing by operation of section 285, while creditors abroad remained free to act. The bankruptcy therefore offered no practical benefit to the creditor body.
The court annulled the bankruptcy. The trustees will vacate office, and the estate will revert to the debtor. Creditors are now free to pursue their own remedies, including proceedings in Austria.
Key points:
- Domicile of origin will not be displaced without clear evidence of an intention to reside indefinitely elsewhere
- A bankruptcy must be capable of producing a recoverable estate; otherwise, the order may be set aside
- Section 282 provides a wide discretion to annul adjudicator made bankruptcies where the order should not have been made.
Jones, Re [2026] EWHC 319 (Ch)
Our summary on the previous hearing can be found here.
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