discharge
my friend want to sue someone but found out he went bankrupt and had a discharge. my friend was not contacted re the bankruptcy or later. we have seen the discharge and his name or any other indication other than what he paid monthly for fees. can my friend pursue his case? david
That is certainly likely – it depends on why you weren’t discharged. If it is because of something you did (or more likely something that you failed to do) then the statements and payments represent a penalty that you have imposed on yourself for not completing your duties properly during your bankruptcy.
This may sound cold, but 3 out of 4 people that file perform all of their duties properly and are discharged as soon as they are eligible. The 4 person, for whatever reason, fails to perform all of their duties and therefore their bankruptcy is extended until they do. In our area, the extension may run 3 to 6 months and require the person to attend in Court (to explain why they didn’t do what they were supposed to do in the first place).
If you did not receive your discharge at the end of nine months then I suggest you go and see your trustee to find out what needs to be done in order to complete your bankruptcy – then do those things as quickly as possible.
No, you are not automatically discharged from bankruptcy after 7 years.
In order to be discharged from bankruptcy there are certain duties that must be performed – if you have not performed those duties you will not be discharged.
If you are uncertain as to whether or not you have been discharged then I suggest you contact the trustee that handled your bankruptcy for you. They will know whether or not you were discharged and if you were not, they should be able to tell you what you need to do now in order to be discharged.
I was told by my Trustee and my friends who had been through this torture previously that 6 years was the magic number – I just reached 6 years and was planning to celebrate onlly to call and find it was seven years and that the trusteee misled me. Do I have recourse??
Tks,
L
Your discharge occurs when you have completed your duties. A first time bankrupt is eligible for an automatic discharge after nine months. Otherwise, a court discharge hearing is held, and the Bankruptcy Judge or Registrar determines when you are discharged.
The note about your bankruptcy appears on your credit report for six years after the date of discharge; I assume that is what you are refering to; more information on your credit report and bankruptcy can be found at this link to Equifax: https://www.consumer.equifax.ca/personal/help/
The first thing you need to do is figure out why he wasn’t discharged. In most cases, (99 out of 100) it is because the individual (your husband) failed to complete all of the duties required of a bankrupt.
I suggest you try contacting his trustee to see if the trustee has any record of the bankruptcy (they aren’t required to keep records that go back that far so it’s likely that the trustee won’t be able to help you).
If that doesn’t work try contacting the nearest Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy and ask them to pull the paper file from archives. This might take a while depending on where the file has been stored.
Once you know what needs to be done, do it and then apply to the Court and request an Order of Discharge. Your husband’s original trustee may be willing to assist with this (for a fee) or they may suggest you hire a lawyer.
I am sory to sound preachy, but for the other people reading this blog please take note of this story: if you file for bankruptcy make sure you are committed to completing the procedure properly. This person wasn’t discharged and now has all of these extra things to do to try and clean things up years later.
Hi David – your friend has to decide how much time, effort and money they want to put into this fight.
The fact that your friend was not notified of the bankruptcy does not necessarily make a difference. Your friend is stll entitled to be repaid at the same rate as all of the bankrupt’s other creditors. For example, if the other creditors received 10% of their money back then your friend may try and recover the same 10%. I should warn you that in most cases, the creditors receive little to no money. To determine how much the creditors received simply ask for a copy of the Final Statement of Receipts and Disbursements from the bankrupt or their trustee.
If you friend can prove that their name was deliberately left off the bankruptcy documents the story changes – the difficulty lies in proving the bankrupt’s intent. If they think they can prove it then they may want to speak to a lawyer as to recover their money will be complicated.
Good luck – please make sure your friend thinks long and hard about how much more time and money they are willing to spend on this matter.