free bankruptcy

There’s no such thing as a “free bankruptcy” in Canada. Trustees have the right to waive any portion of their fee that they want to, but it’s a highly unusual thing for any trustee to do. Believe it or not, most trustees don’t make a “profit” on the basic bankruptcy services they provide – our costs are covered by the more complex files that produce higher fees and by the volume of work we do. So when you ask a trustee to work for less than the normal fees you are asking them to loss money in order to help you. As I said earlier, it doesn’t happen very often. Every one we talk to is in financial trouble – if trustees start working for free they won’t be in business very long…

You can apply to somehting called the Bankruptcy Assistance Program, but this does not mean your bankruptcy will be free. The Program refers you to a trustee that will likely extend your procedure to make the payments smaller and/or agree to take two or three years worth of tax refunds (instead of just one) to cover their costs. To access the Program contact the nearest Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy.