Will my discharge be opposed
My husband and I declared bankruptcy on February 24th (individually). This was decided as the best alternative after meeting with a Trustee in early February. In January I wrote an AMEX cheque in the amount of 8K and deposited into our joint account which at that time was in overdraft. I wrote the cheque as I had done before only in smaller amounts with the hopes that we could cover our bills. Shortly afterwards, my husband had a reduction in pay, creditors were reducing our limits and in some cases increasing our interest rates. I then received a letter from Amex saying that the account was under review and I was to stop using the card/account which I did. As I mentioned, we decided to go bankrupt on the 24th. My question is will I be required to repay the 8K or any of the other cash advances if they were written to pay minimum payments on other cards and to maintain our day to day living expenses? The credit card companies provide these cheques and say pay down a higher interest rate card, do a home renovation, go on a trip etc. etc. My Trustee was given 3 months worth of statements and never questioned any expenditures (I assume he reviewed them). Wouldn`t he have given me a heads up if he thought something was wrong. He seems to think that the bankruptcy will be over in nine months. I being someone of a pessimist have my doubts. I realize that I may be required to pay surplus payments up to 21 months but could it go past that. Will I be paying forever? Given our budget and the surplus payments we need to make my husband and I will just be getting by.
Posted from: Ontario
I am greatly concerned that you may not understand (and assume responsibility here) for doing something quite inappropriate. I strongly suggest you call your trustee and go and discuss this with them – if you wait for either the trustee to notice it themself or (much worse) for the credit card company to inform the trustee of what you did things will become much more difficult. I expect you will be required to repay the $8,000 in full and it may have consequences regarding your discharge.
The Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act was created to allow the “honest, but unfortunate debtor with a fresh start”. This transaction and the fact that you’re bringing it to light now, after you have filed, makes me question whether or not you should be considered “honest, but unfortunate”.