Personal insolvency on both sides of the border
Are we able to file bankruptcy in Canada for all the debts we incurred separately and/or jointly on both sides of the border – US and Canada.
Due to unfortunate and unforeseen circumstances forthelast twelve years, we are unable toclear all our debts in Canada before we left and our debts while working/living in the US.
After almost one year of being unemployed in the US,my husband accepted a job and we came back to Canada leaving behind unpaid debts which we’re unable to make payments on for the last 3-4 months. With our situation right now we could only keep our Canadian debt payments current.
All the years my husband worked in the US, we made the effort to keep ourminimum payments up to date. Unfortunately weno longer have the means to(savings or assets)to count and our employment income is not sufficient to meet even the min.payments of thesaid debts. Our ongoing misfortune now includes not only those unpaid debtsbut also, our poor health, (retiring) age but more importantly, the fear of losing our job unexpectedly. There is an ongoing talk aboutdrastic cuts by ouremployer. Ourdebts approx.totals $98000. with about$38,000. is owed in US.
Unfortunately, you will need to file bankruptcy in both Canada and the US to deal with your debts. There are no international treaties that deal with your kind of situation – a Canadian bankruptcy will clear up your Canadian debts and am American bankruptcy will deal with your US obligations.