When it comes to
Bankruptcy Sunshine Coast, normally
people aren't aware that there may be both voluntary, and involuntary
bankruptcy - both of these have different approaches and guidelines.
Involuntary
bankruptcy occurs when someone you owe money to applies to the court to declare
you bankrupt. Commonly when you get one of those notices, you have normally 21
days to pay all the debt. If you do not, then the creditor returns to the court
and asks the court to provide a sequestration order that declares you bankrupt.
A trustee is selected, and then you have 14 days to get the paperwork in and
then you are bankrupt.
You can contest
a bankruptcy notice by going to court after the 21 days have expired and put
your case forward, to avoid it going to the next level. Other than the way you
became bankrupt there is in reality no difference between Involuntary
Bankruptcy and or Voluntary Bankruptcy - once you are declared bankrupt,
they're administered to in the exact same way.
However, when it
concerns Bankruptcy for this, the stress, torment and fear that accompanies
this method is incredible. If you think you are prone to be made bankrupt by
someone, get some tips and act on that advice. Generally I've found it's always
much better to know what you can and can't do before you have a person bankrupt
you. Once you are bankrupt, it's generally far too late.
Voluntary Bankruptcy
However, when it
comes to Bankruptcy, sometimes there are moments that it is the best option. So
you may need to ask yourself, 'when should I consider voluntary Bankruptcy?'.
This question is
not the very same for each person of course, but more often than not I find
that one way you could work it out is to figure out just how long it will take
you to pay each of your debts - if its longer than 3 years (the period you are
declared bankrupt), then this may really help you make that decision, and help
you to understand Bankruptcy.
Once, I had an
80 year old pensioner, who came to me once regarding * Bankrupcty tell me that
her credit card statement calculated how long her debt would take to pay at the
rate she was paying off her account, and it was 35 years! Imagine 35 years for
one credit card bill.
Credit rating
damage can help you think this through. If you move house and forget to pay
your $30 phone bill for 6 months more, it's very likely the phone company will
default your credit file. That default will sit on your file for 5 years, so
for $30 you can have your credit file seriously damaged for that period of time
- and all of this will affect how you have to approach Bankruptcy.
In many ways,
the ease with which companies/credit providers can default your credit file is
unreasonable. The punishment doesn't seem to equal the crime in my book. So if
you currently have defaults on your credit report for 5 years, keep in mind
that bankruptcy is on your credit file for a total 7 years then its rubbed out
completely.
So if your
credit rating is a big issue in trying to decide whether to enter into a Debt
Agreement or Personal Insolvency Agreement or Bankruptcy remember they will all
sit on your credit file for a total of 7 years. The biggest change is that with
a DA or PIA you pay back the money and still have it on your file for 7 years.
Bankruptcy
I have talked
about the word a few times now, but when it comes down to it, Bankruptcy is the
biggest part, and the element more people are afraid of when they come to me to
review their financial situation and Bankruptcy. The other side of crime and
punishment equation is bankruptcy, and in this country the provisions are very
generous: you can go bankrupt owing millions of dollars and after 3 years it's
all finished with no strings attached. As compared to countries like the United
States, our bankruptcy laws are quite reasonable.
I don't claim to
know why that is but a couple of hundred years ago debtors went to prison.
Nowadays I suppose the government believes the sooner it can get you back on
your feet working and paying tax, the better. It makes more sense than locking
you up which costs the taxpayer anyway.
Bankruptcy wipes
every one of your debts including ATO debts except for a few things:
·
Centrelink Debts, Court Fines
like parking and speeding fines.
·
HECS or Fee Help loans.
·
Money to take care of a car
accident if the car was not actually insured.
There is far
more that can be said about this and Bankruptcy in general but the purpose of
this blog was to help you decide between a few possible options. When getting
some advice, don't forget that there are always possibilities when it concerns Bankruptcy
in Sunshine Coast, so do some homework, and Good luck!
If you want to
learn more about precisely what to do, where to turn and what questions to ask
about Bankruptcy, then feel free to contact Bankruptcy Experts Sunshine Coast
on 1300 795 575, or visit our website: bankruptcyexpertsSunshineCoast.com.au.
