New regulations designed to make it easier for people on lower incomes to declare themselves bankrupt are likely to come into force in Scotland in April.
Members of the Scottish parliament have approved plans to allow consumers on the minimum wage - who also have assets totaling less than £10,000 - to be allowed to declare bankruptcy, the BBC reports.
The new regulations come as figures from Citizens Advice Scotland show that at least 5,000 people across the country could benefit by declaring bankruptcy in an effort to wipe out their debt problems.
Justice secretary Kenny MacAskill said: "The financial system has to offer people a way out of the morass in which easy credit often landed them."
According to the Insolvency Service, more than 111,000 people across the UK applied for bankruptcy in 2007.
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