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5 Tips Before Declaring Bankruptcy

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Jane Smith
5 Tips Before Declaring Bankruptcy

Bankruptcy is scary, especially when the media shows big businesses going down and being bankrupt. Bankruptcy can run from personal to corporate businesses. Of course, before filing for one, assess your situation first. Include retirement funds, stocks, bonds, real estate, vehicles, college savings accounts, and other non-bank account funds. You can even add a rough estimate for each item. If you need to file for bankruptcy, there are five things that you should do. 

 

Before declaring bankruptcy, you should

  • Change your bank accounts.

This is something recommended for clients before bankruptcy. If you have any debt or credit like loans or overdraft with your current bank, they may close your bank account once they receive a notice of your bankruptcy. It is better to plan for a new account than to find that your old bank is no longer honoring your payment for mortgage, car, rent, and insurance.

Other people that you owe money may also be authorized to make automatic withdrawals from your account even if you don't have any outstanding amounts in your bank. These withdrawals will stop once you file for bankruptcy, and if you don’t, you may suddenly find yourself with no cash in the bank.

  • Double-check your automatic payments.

Now that you change banks, you need to contact all the people that have been making automatic payments and provide them with your new account information. If you don’t, they will try and access your old account, and your payment will bounce. This is very important, especially if you are trying to negotiate with your lender to keep a car or house during your bankruptcy or consumer proposal.

  • Cancel any contracts before you file for bankruptcy.

Consider all of your monthly expenses and contracts with a mind towards reducing your living expenses. If you have a three-year cell phone contract that you don’t need or want, you may break the contract by declaring bankruptcy. Bankruptcy trustees in Ottawa suggest that you need to decide to break it before you file so that the company can be included in the bankruptcy. 

Of course, this goes for any contract you have, including car loans and leases. Remember that you are filing bankruptcy to clean up your money problems, especially if you can’t afford your car lease so that you can surrender the car as a part of the bankruptcy and obtain relief from the payment.

  • Make sure that you can live without credit.

A person sometimes waits 30, 60, or even 90 days before declaring bankruptcy, to make sure that they can live on their income. Declaring bankruptcy will not solve all of your money problems if you have $2000 a month coming in, and it costs you $2500 to live. You need to know that if you earn $2000 a month, you can live on $2000 a month or less. Once you find out you can’t afford to live on your income after you’ve filed may make your situation worse. Have a good look at your living expenses and find ways to live within your means after your bankruptcy.

  • Do a final review of your options before you file.

You may have considered whether a debt consolidation loan might work or a debt management plan, or even a consumer proposal. There is nothing wrong with getting all of your options with your bankruptcy trustee before declaring bankruptcy. You can’t be a little bit bankrupt. 

If you do these five things before you file for bankruptcy, your bankruptcy may likely go smoothly. Companies like Doyle Salewski Inc. will help you achieve your goals of cleaning up financial problems. They know that the last thing that anyone wants for a legal procedure like bankruptcy is to become complicated and expensive because you failed to take the time for it properly.

 

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