How Long To File For Bankruptcy And What Are The Payments

 The length of time to get in to sign the paperwork to file for bankruptcy is fairly immediate. Once you have contact with the counsellor or Trustee in your region, either a phone consultation or in-person meeting will occur to answer your questions and get some information from you. And then the booking of the time to actually sign the paperwork happens right after that, as soon as you are ready to file. The payment for the services is going to depend on a couple of things: - the basic administration of your file - your income & the number of people in your household. The Superintendent in Bankruptcy regulates the fees and payments that a Trustee will charge you. If your net income is below a basic standard of living that the government sets out in a table, then you would be responsible for the administration costs of your file. These include the disbursements ($100), 2 counselling sessions ($170), government registration fees ($75) and a basic amount to cover the Trustee's time. And of course, GST. The basic cost for the Trustee's time will vary if you have "complicated" issues on your file such as business involvement. Once you talk to one of our counsellors or Trustees, we can tell you what this basic amount would be. If your net income is above the basic standard of living table, then you have payments to make for either 21 months (if this is your first bankruptcy) or 36 months (if this is your second). Your payment is 50% of the excess over the standard. So for example, if you are single the standard of living for 2010 is $1,884 net pay per month. So if you net $2,884 per month, you have $1,000 excess income. 50% of this excess is a monthly payment of $500 for a period of 21 or 36 months. This also assumes you have no child support, alimony, court fine obligations that you would have to pay. As those will reduce the payment. If you would like to speak with one of our counsellors or Trustees, or have someone calculate your payment for you, please contact me or one of our people in your region. They can be found on our website athttp://www.mnpdebt.ca/contact/alberta/default.aspx. Donna Carson, CGA, CIRP, Trustee Calgary and Central Alberta regions 1.877.500.0792 donna.carson@mnp.ca