Your Options
It is critical to understand your options when encountering financial difficulties. They may be as simple as sitting down and reworking a household budget to get your monthly finances in order to having to use a formal process such as Orderly Payment of Debt, Formal Proposal or Bankruptcy.
We encourage you to review our web site further as we summarize some of the more formal options for you and also to contact our office for a free consultation as each individuals circumstances vary and the insight and experience of a licensed practitioner will benefit you in determining what steps you need to take to resolve your current situation and to help you plan for your financial future.
We also encourage you to get a second opinion and to be sure that when seeking financial guidance you are satisfied that they are qualified and licensed. Only individuals who are licensed by the Superintendent of Bankruptcy and a Court Order can enforce a Stay of Proceedings against creditors.
Understanding Terminologies
Understanding certain terms becomes very important when you arer sorting out your options and determining what various documents mean. We have identified some of the more common ones and provided a general explanation for your benefit. These may not be worded the same as the exact legal definitions and should only be used for general understanding of these terms in order to understand their use when reading our web site.
Legislation
The Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act was a statute that has been amended on several occasions over the years in order to keep it current and relevant to current financial and social regimes. More recently it was amended in 1992 and again in 1997. It is anticipated that there will be new amendments proclaimed in the next twelve to twenty-four months that will change the length of time certain individuals stay in bankruptcy, the amount of surplus income that will be payable, the status of RRSP’s as an exempt asset as well as other changes to streamline and up-date the administration processes.
If you owe Canada Revenue Agency or owe student loan debt or have RRSP’s, these are areas where changes to legislation could have an affect on your situation. To determine if these changes are beneficial or not, we encourage you to consult with our office for more information.
You may also consult with the Government of Canada web-site to review the pending legislative changes and monitor its status.