Consulting with Your Calgary Alberta Trustee

Posted by: Shawn Stack on 01/20/2012

A Calgary Alberta trustee can provide you with invaluable aid when you consider filing for bankruptcy, especially as there are so many things to consider; things that the average filer does not know much about. If you’re a debtor who feels there is no other alternative than to declare bankruptcy, you will find the expertise of a trustee beneficial. Retaining ownership of assets, determining asset value, and identifying asset equity are just a few factors you should delve into with your Calgary Alberta trustee before, during, and after you’ve filed.

Overall Asset Worth

The limits on what you can keep after filing for bankruptcy depend on what your assets are worth and where you live. The worth or value of these possessions is determined by the equity of each item. For instance, if a filer $12,000 in debt owns a $15,000 car; the car’s equity value is $3,000. The trustee you work with uses equity value as a factor in identifying the amount to be set aside for debt payment.

Food and Shelter

The law says that bankruptcy filers can keep one year’s supply of foodstuffs; a law based on the time that people relied heavily on their farms and gardens for sustenance, with that year’s harvest hopefully tiding them over until next year’s.  People who file for bankruptcy are not required to hand over cash that would otherwise be used to buy food for a year.

Retaining home ownership is probably the filer’s main concern. Whether you can keep your house or not depends on where you live. For instance, your Alberta trustee may tell you that you can keep your home if its equity does not go beyond $40,000. In provinces such as Ontario and Quebec, there are no home equity allowances. Real estate used for other purposes are also bound by different regulations – for example, a bankrupt individual may retain ownership of a portion of active farmland, enough to for him or her to generate ample income.

Cash Gifts

Cash gifts may be used by the unscrupulous to disperse money that may otherwise be lost through bankruptcy proceedings. Due to this, most cash gifts made to relatives and friends are required to be repaid to a trustee for the purposes of debt payment. Of course, repayment is not required of all cash gifts, it’s dependant on how much the gifts were and when they were made relative to the filer’s bankruptcy.
Every personal and financial situation is different – legislation surrounding the retention of assets differs from province to province, and from debtor to debtor. As such, there are no hard and fast rules as to what you can keep in the event you’re filing for bankruptcy. Talk to a professional to review your own situation in detail (even if you’re only considering filing for bankruptcy). This can help ensure better financial health and a more stable future for you and your family. After all, even the most resourceful filer won’t have as much experience and knowledge as a qualified Calgary Alberta trustee.