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What happens the day I sign the paperwork to go bankrupt in Guelph?
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Ted Michalos, Trustee |
What happens the day I sign my bankruptcy paperwork?I hear this question a lot – people are obviously concerned with the actual process of filing their consumer proposal or assignment in bankruptcy. These nervous feelings are understandable – in most cases, this is not something that you’ve ever had to do before and people are naturally anxious when they not familiar with what’s happening.Hopefully by the time you finish reading this article you will be more comfortable with the process and therefore less anxious.
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Prior to the day you sign you will have given me a lot of information about your financial affairs. The documents you will be signing are based on that information; it has simply been presented in the format required by law.
The most important document you will be required to sign is called the Statement of Affairs. This is a multi-page document that sets out the things that you own (your assets), the people that you owe (your liabilities) and general information about your household situation (your address, marital status, your number of dependents, etc).
Included in this third section are a series of questions about your financial affairs:
- have you sold any property?
- had anything seized by creditors?
- made any unusual payments towards your debts?
All of this information is provided so that your creditors can be made aware of your current financial situation and some of the events that lead to your current problems.
 In other words, the Statement of Affairs is designed to explain why you are filing a proposal or bankruptcy.
In addition to the Statement of Affairs, you are required to sign a Monthly Statement of Income and Expense – this is just a fancy title for a page that sets out how much money comes in every months and how you spend it. Once again, this information is provided to your creditors to help explain “why†you are filing your proposal or bankruptcy.
If you think about it, this is the same information that you might want to know if you were going to lend someone money; the only difference is that your creditors have already lent you the money and now they are being asked to consider your plan to sort out your finances.
There shouldn’t be any information on the Statement of Affairs or the Monthly Statement of Income and Expense that you haven’t seen before – after all, the information came from you in the first place.
There will be other forms that you will be asked to sign – each is designed with a specific purposes to help you understand what your duties and responsibilities are during your procedure. Some of the documents may appear confusing – simply take the time to ask me questions until you are comfortable with what you are signing.
The process is supposed to help you, not hurt you, and we want you to understand everything that you are required to do.
At the end of the session you will have signed quite a few pages – don’t worry, I will scan all of the documents and then return most of the originals to you. That way, you can read them over again later at your leisure, should you choose to do so.
Most people tell me they feel much better at the end of the session. They may not be happy that they had to file a proposal or bankruptcy, but they feel much better knowing exactly what they need to do in order to resolve their financial problems.
Hopefully this article will relieve some of the anxiety you may be feeling about filing your proposal or assignment in bankruptcy. Remember that it is okay to ask questions – I want you to be as comfortable as possible with your decision and the better you understand the process the more comfortable you should be.
To meet with me, Ted Michalos, please call our office in Guelph at 519-823-0330.
You can also reach me at 310-PLAN (no area code required). If you prefer, you can also e-mail me your questions, and I will get back to you within two hours during normal business hours. Please contact me today, and let’s get started.