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Trustee’s requests after the final payment

My son made his final payment and received an acknowledgement for that. Looking at your site, it would seem to be the end of the conversation. But along with the acknowledgement came a couple more requests which the trustee says is because of recent legislation “not related to your case.” These requests are regarding assets he might have acquired in the last four years which is a big fat 0, so that is not a problem. Then they ask also for his 2014 income tax return. Are these legitimate requests?

One Response to “Trustee’s requests after the final payment”

Doug Stuive, CA | Trustee | CIRP said...

Without understanding the circumstances of your son’s bankruptcy estate or consumer proposal filing it is impossible to know why these requests are being made. There are several legitimate reasons why a request for this type of information may be needed. Providing proof of income for example is often needed to close up the administration of a bankruptcy estate and an income tax assessment is often the easiest way to get that income information. Further, in bankruptcy the trustee has an obligation to make sure that all income tax returns have been completed for taxation year leading up to the date of bankruptcy, and the year of the bankruptcy filing. The Notice of Assessment acts as proof in the bankruptcy file that this duty has been completed.

If you are concerned about the nature of these requests, and you are not getting a reasonable explanation from your Trustee, you may wish to contact the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy to look into this matter. While I suspect there is a necessary reason as to why these items are required, these reasons should be explained to your son. If the explanation is not forthcoming then this government agency may be able to mediate the situation to get him an answer.