There have been various questions on askaboutmoney along the lines of "If I leave the country with unpaid debts, can they still chase me after 10 years?" So can anyone clarify the legal position, ideally, with links to the legislation. Johnny leaves Ireland for Australia owing unsecured debt of €5,000 Johnny just has a credit card and overdraft debt and leaves the country. Does this disappear after a while? Mary 1 has a shortfall of €100,000 arising from the shortfall on her mortgage. She just gave the keys back to the bank. They sold the house and the shortfall is €100,000 Mary 2 has a judgement against her for €150,000 Mary 2 handed back the keys but the bank registered a judgement against her. Paddy has a judgement mortgage on his property of €30,000 A credit card company got a judgement against Paddy of €30,000 and registered it against his home. Does it disappear after x years? Can the bank do anything to extend the statute of limitations? If the bank continues to write to the debtor asking for the money does it keep it alive? When does the period start? Is it from the date the debt is incurred or the date the bank stops chasing it?