Bankruptcy and surplus income payments

Summary

Stephanie has discussed filing for bankruptcy with a Licensed Insolvency Trustee. The trustee explains how Stephanie's income requires her to make payments during her bankruptcy.

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, "Bankruptcy and surplus income payments." The title collapses, the logo and wordmark fade out, and the screen is blank again.)

Meet Stephanie,

(An illustration of a woman's face appears, with long straight hair. All the people in the video are represented by illustrations of their faces. She blinks occasionally. Her name, Stephanie, appears below the illustration.)

the mother of a young son, James, who is just about to enter primary school.

(Stephanie smiles lightly, zooms out and disappears.)

Recently, Stephanie has overextended her credit

(A credit card appears in the middle of the screen, with boxes representing the numbers and name. The word "Credit" appears in the bottom right corner.)

and, despite her best efforts, is unable to pay her bills.

(The boxes on the card slide left and disappear. The word "credit" slides off the card and disappear. The card then collapses and also disappears, leaving the screen blank.)

Realizing that she needed to speak to an expert, Stephanie found a Licensed Insolvency Trustee

(A different woman, the licensed insolvency trustee, appears, blinking occasionally.)

located in her area and has gone to meet with her.

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

After speaking to the trustee,

(The word "bankruptcy" appears on the screen.)

Stephanie has determined bankruptcy was the most appropriate option for her.

(The word "bankruptcy" dissolves, leaving the screen blank.)

After explaining the bankruptcy process

(Stephanie and the trustee, with Stephanie on the left, zoom in.)

and looking more closely at her income, the trustee told Stephanie that she will have to make what are called

(The words "surplus income payments" followed by three ellipsis points, rise up from the bottom of the screen and are positioned below Stephanie and the trustee.)

"surplus income payments."

(All images on the screen slide right and disappear off the screen, leaving it blank.)

These payments ensure that people who declare bankruptcy and have sufficient income,

(Bills of paper currency, represented by green bills with dollar signs, appear on screen from left to right, in four rows of five. The bills wave in the air. Below the bills are three ellipsis points and the words "are made by you if you have sufficient income.")

contribute to paying off a portion of their debt.

(The bills collapse and disappear, the words dissolve, and the screen is blank.)

In simple terms, surplus income

(A red vertical bar rises up from the bottom of the screen. A white dollar sign appears in the middle of it. A horizontal threshold line drops down from the top of the screen. As the threshold line drops below the top of the red bar, the part of the bar above the line changes to green. Dollar signs appear at each end of the horizontal threshold line. The words "surplus income" appear as a title over the vertical bar.)

is the amount of income a person who has declared bankruptcy has that is over and above what they need

(The horizontal threshold line drops all the way down and disappears off the bottom of the screen. The vertical bar changes entirely to green as the threshold line drops. The dollar sign in the vertical bar also disappears as the threshold line crosses it. The title moves left and disappears too, leaving only a green bar in the middle of the screen.)

to maintain a reasonable standard of living.

(The green bar widens to create a tall rectangle.)

The amount they have to pay is calculated

(The green rectangle transforms into a green calculator.)

according to standards

(The calculator zooms out a little as the words "Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy Canada" appear over the calculator as a title.)

established by the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy Canada.

(All the images slide up and disappear off the top of the screen, leaving it blank.)

Stephanie will have to make these surplus-income payments for a total of 21 months

(Twenty-one calendar pages, in three rows of seven, fill the screen.)

because this is her first bankruptcy. If this were her second bankruptcy,

(The last column of calendar pages drops below the remaining calendar pages, and five more columns of three calendar pages fill in, so that there are now thirty-six calendar pages, six rows of six.)

the payments would have to be made over a longer period of time.

(The calendar pages slide right and disappear off the screen, leaving it blank.)

Stephanie

(Stephanie appears on the far left. A horizontal line starts to draw itself below her.)

was also told that if her income changes

(The line keeps drawing and becomes a line graph, sharply rising and falling, with an arrow head forming at the end. A dollar sign appears below the line, on the right of the screen.)

at all during bankruptcy, she must inform the Licensed Insolvency Trustee,

(The line dissolves from left to right, with the arrow head exploding before it disappears. The dollar sign twirls out of sight. Stephanie zooms in from the left to rest in the centre of the screen.)

as this may affect the amount of her payments.

(Two weights, each marked "10 t," appear at the top of the screen, to Stephanie's left and right.)

Stephanie knows

(The two weights drop heavily, landing beside Stephanie on either side.)

she has some work to do but feels a weight has been lifted

(Stephanie closes her eyes and looks relieved as the two weights are slowly lifted and disappear off the top of the screen. She opens her eyes.)

just knowing she is starting to deal with her financial issues.

(Stephanie zooms out and disappears, leaving the screen blank.)

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 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 at the end is the trustee who helped Stephanie.)

and use our searchable database to find a Licensed Insolvency Trustee in your area who can help. Licensed by the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy Canada, Licensed Insolvency Trustees are the only professionals who can file a consumer proposal or bankruptcy application in your name.

(All the images disappear, leaving the screen blank.)

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: "Understanding the bankruptcy discharge.")

you may want to view other videos that help explain the options that might be available to you.

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

Related videos

Related information