surplus income and retro funds
I filed for bankruptcy in June 2006, and my income amount has not changed. In the beginning of December I received an application to apply for 2006 Ontario supplement for working families. I sent it into the minister of finance and a couple weeks later I rec’d a reply stating that they owed me Retroactive funds for July 2005 through June 2006. On the 13th of December the government deposited the retro funds into my account. I plan to add this to my income for December, and I will then have surplus. But since it is retro and other than the June 2006 payment would it still count as income. I would have received it before my bakruptcy was filed. Also a second part question, my husband gets paid biweekly, and his income rarely changes, except for this month of Decemeber. He recieved a $300 bonus from work, and 4% vacation pay for 2 weeks. His employer does not pay him for vacation time off until the end of the year. Again, I will add this with my income for December but this gives me a surplis of over$1800 in December. After calculating the surplus, my payment should be around $300. But is there anyway to get around the surplus. Since my husbands vacation pay is technically retroactive as well. Thank you
The way the surplus income rules are written, your income each month determines what you have to pay, so in a three paycheque month, you pay extra. The same holds true for retroactive payments.
However, the trustee does have a small amount of discretion, so I would suggest you request a meeting with your trustee to see if there is anything they can do. If you don’t agree with your trustee’s decision, it is also possible to request mediation by a representative of the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy; your trustee can also explain this process.