Understanding the bankruptcy discharge

Summary

Vincent has decided to file for bankruptcy. His Licensed Insolvency Trustee outlines what debts will be discharged in a bankruptcy and how long the process takes.

Transcript

(Soft music begins and continues in the background throughout the video. The blank screen has the Government of Canada logo at the top left and the Canada wordmark on the bottom right. A broad bar of dark grey opens up between the logo and wordmark, revealing in the centre the title, "Understanding the bankruptcy discharge." The title collapses, the logo and wordmark fade out, and the screen is blank again.)

Meet Vincent,

(An illustration of a man's face appears: he has a beard, mustache and glasses, as well as short hair. All the people in the video are represented by illustrations of their faces. Vincent closes his eyes as if he is nodding "Hello," as all the people in the video do when they appear on screen. Vincent is smiling. Then his name, Vincent, fades in below the illustration.)

a father of two young children.

A recent separation has left him

(Vincent moves to the left of the screen and his name drops down and off the screen below. His expression changes: he is now sad. To his right, three vertical bars pop up in a makeshift graph. The bar at the left is the shortest, the one in the middle is taller and the one at the far right is the tallest. Each bar has a dollar sign in the middle. Above the first bar on the left but higher than the tallest bar, a dollar sign appears and a horizontal line is drawn across to another dollar sign at the right, above the tallest bar. This line represents x-axis for Vincent's spending.)

unable to meet his financial obligations.

After having

(Vincent zooms out and disappears, the x-axis disappears from right to left while its dollar signs disappear, and the bars drop down and off the bottom of the screen, leaving it blank.)

his options explained

(A man pops up, who is the trustee. He has short, graying hair. Four speech bubbles pop up around the trustee. The bubbles contain the numbers 1, 2, 3 and 4, representing the options. The speech bubbles bob slightly before they sit still.)

by a Licensed Insolvency Trustee, a professional whose duties are regulated by the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy Canada,

Vincent has decided

(The speech bubbles twirl out of sight.)

that bankruptcy

(The trustee zooms in to the right of the screen. Vincent zooms in on the left of the screen.)

is the most appropriate solution to his financial troubles.

(Vincent slides left while the trustee slides right and both disappear off the screen, leaving it blank.)

The trustee explains

(A black metal bar zooms in. It has a red dot on the left side. It turns out to be a paper shredder, with the dot representing an indicator light.)

that after fulfilling

(A document with "Debts" across the top appears to feed into the shredder.)

his bankruptcy obligations, his debts will be discharged

(The document representing debts slowly feeds into the shredder, with the debts document half destroyed before the images zoom out, leaving a blank screen.)

and he will be free to start over financially.

The trustee further explains

(A three-by-three row of calendar pages appear.)

that in the case of most first bankruptcies, the discharge will happen automatically after nine months—or 21 months

(The nine calendar pages shrink and move left, so that twelve more calendar pages fit on the screen, making twenty-one. The display shows a three-by-seven row of calendars before the calendar pages dissolve, leaving a blank screen.)

if surplus-income payments have to be made.

The trustee also tells Vincent

(The word "Conditions" with a colon, appears along the top.)

the automatic discharge happens only if

(A box with a checkmark appears, with the words "The discharge must not be opposed by the licensed insolvency trustee, a creditor or the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy Canada" to its right.)

it is not opposed by the Licensed Insolvency Trustee, a creditor or the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy Canada; and

(Another box with a checkmark appears below the first one. To the right of this check box, it says "Vincent must attend two counselling sessions.")

he attends two counselling sessions to help him understand why he went bankrupt and to assist him in managing his financial affairs in the future.

(The words drop down and dissolve, leaving a blank screen.)

If the discharge is not automatic,

(An old-fashioned equal-arm balance scale appears to grow from the bottom of the screen. The two sides sway back and forth.)

Vincent is told a court hearing will be scheduled. At the hearing, the court will determine

(Just as the two sides are almost still, the scale drops down and disappears off the bottom of the screen.)

if and when

(The word "If" appears as a question, one character at a time. Below that, the word "When" appears as a question, one character at a time.)

the discharge will occur.

(All text dissolves, leaving the screen blank.)

Once the discharge is granted,

(Vincent pops up from the bottom of the screen.)

Vincent will be relieved of his debt

(One by one, four sheets that have the word "Debts" across the top pop up around Vincent, filling the screen.)

as of the day he filed for bankruptcy

(Vincent smiles and bobs up and down slightly.)

and he will be free

(The four sheets representing his debt drop down and disappear off the bottom of the screen. Five gold stars twirl into view in a line above Vincent.)

to start rebuilding his credit rating

(The five stars twirl out of sight and Vincent drops down, disappearing off the bottom of the screen, leaving it blank.)

and his financial future.

But, the trustee

(From the left side of the screen, the trustee slides into view.)

explains, there are certain debts that will not be discharged.

(The trustee zooms out, leaving the screen blank.)

These include

(A baby rattle and baby stacking ring tower appear to grow from the centre of the screen. The words "Alimony, child support" appear below the toys.)

alimony and child support payments;

(The baby rattle slides left and the baby stacking ring tower slides right, with both disappearing off the screen. The words drop down, disappearing off the bottom of the screen and leaving it blank.)

(A school house with a school bell zooms in over the words "Student loans.")

in some cases, student loans,

(The school house zooms out and disappears. The words drop down and disappear off the bottom of the screen, leaving it blank.)

(An old-fashioned equal-arm balance scale appears to grow from the bottom of the screen. The two sides sway back and forth before staying still. The words "Court-ordered fines or penalties" appear below the scale.)

court-ordered fines or penalties; and

(The scale and the words drop down, disappearing off the bottom of the screen, leaving it blank.)

(From the bottom of the screen, a magnifying glass is tilted to the left and rotating upward and clockwise. It stops rising when the magnifier frames the word "Fraud." Below the magnifying glass are the words "Debts arising from fraud.")

debts arising from fraud.

(The magnifying glass keeps rotating clockwise, flying off to the right of the screen. The words drop down and disappear off the bottom of the screen.)

Are you in financial trouble?

(A makeshift line graph starts with the line in the top left corner. The line is green as it drops in stages to a break-even line, where it continues to drop and changes colour to show that the financial status has changed to be "in the red.")

Not sure where to turn?

(A broad arrow with pointers on the left and right ends appears below the graph.)

Visit our website

(The line graph dissolves, and then the two-headed arrow dissolves, leaving the screen blank. The URL www.canada.ca appears below a row of five different trustees, who have zoomed in one at a time. They alternate woman, man, woman, man, woman. The Licensed Insolvency Trustee second from the left is the trustee who helped Vincent.)

and use our searchable database to find a Licensed Insolvency Trustee, the only professional who can file a consumer proposal or bankruptcy application in your name.

While visiting our site,

(The screen fills with four boxes. The top left box says: "Discussing your options with a Licensed Insolvency Trustee." The top right box says: "What to expect if you file for bankruptcy." The bottom left box says: "Submitting a consumer proposal to your creditors." The bottom right box says: "Bankruptcy and surplus income payments." A cursor appears to be clicking on the top left box.)

you may also want to view other videos that help explain the options to you.

(The boxes and URL dissolve. The Canada wordmark fades in. The music fades out and the wordmark dissolves, leaving a blank screen.)

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