What is Bankruptcy?
Bankruptcy is a legal process that provides immediate financial relief to individuals with financial problems by stopping legal actions by creditors. Bankruptcy usually releases an individual from most, if not all, of his or her debts. The procedure is referred to as "filing an assignment" and the person filing an assignment in bankruptcy is referred to as "the bankrupt".
Bankruptcy is intended to give a person with financial problems a fresh start. Bankruptcy provides for a fair split of certain of the bankrupt's assets among his or her creditors.
The steps to declaring bankruptcy include filing the assignment in bankruptcy, notifying the creditors of the bankruptcy, realizing or settling on certain of the bankrupt's assets, filing of tax returns, two counselling sessions and the discharge. If you are considering bankruptcy, the following pages provide a summary of these steps and address many of the questions you may have.
