When Dominique Grubisa the Bankruptcy Busting Barrister was a guest on my Webinar, many people asked question that we simply ran out of time to answer and we promised those answers would be available for you.  So here they are…

Please note that the webinar was held in Australia, therefore Dominique’s answers are based on Australian Laws, however many laws are similar world wide, these Q&A’s may just enlighten you to investigate further in your own area.

Once you have read through the questions and answers, would really appreciate your comments below. Thank you.

Question: How hard is it to get a loan after you’ve been bankrupt and can you recommend where to go for one?
Answer: Technically once you’ve been discharged from bankruptcy that should be the end of it. However in reality, it may haunt you going forward. Contact me when you’re ready and I’ll put you onto the right people.

Question: If you have a 80% loan on your property & have a caveat for 20% what would they be able to take.
Answer: Nothing

Question: What if you have nothing for them to be able to pay creditors
Answer: Chances are they’ll know this up front and won’t bother to bankrupt you. If they do and you have nothing then they get nothing

Question: How long are you declared bankrupt
Answer: 3 years but it may vary. The trustee has the power to make it longer if you do not co-operate

Question: can you be the trustee???
Answer: Technically you can but it’s better if it’s someone else and you are totally removed - the whole idea is to argue that it is not under your control anymore.

Question: can you explain step by step how to set up a trust
Answer: It’s rather technical - you can get a lawyer or an accountant to do it or we can do it for you - just fill out a contact us form on this blog.

Question: what if im the trustee???
Answer: You can be but it’s better to remove yourself completely - can you change it to a company or someone else totally unrelated to your assets?

Question: can banks still charge dishonour fee if i’m short of monthly payment for mortgage?
Answer: Yes they do - whether they can or not doesn’t matter to them. It’s immoral and wrong but they just do what they want don’t they?

Question: Approached last week by a group who said they’re targeting older women, divorced etc n ‘opening their eyes’ to what can be done; ie at 60 we can tap into our super to buy an investment property. I owe $266K mortgage fixed to Feb 10, $9K fee to break that n C/c debt of $40K;  this company did suggest I set up my own Trust for my various superannuation n talk to their financial planner who has a fee. is it wise to invest at my age of 58. I do contract work n have been unemployed for 7 weeks, just restarted.
Answer: It’s never too late to invest - I think Colonel Sanders started out at 68? Don’t just hand your money and control over to a ‘group’ or a financial planner though. Educate yourself and make your own decisions. Sure delegate if you have to but always make sure you understand and know what’s going on

Question: Yes, I got a bit lost on this last one. will it be on the website so I can re-read and digest?
Answer: Yes - I think I’ll cover it in much more detail in a separate webinar

Question: where do we stand when your creditor sells your debt while you were waiting to speak to there financial hardship dept and what are the new owners allowed to charge you??? GE was my lender.
Answer: I’m not sure they can do that - I’d need more info but if you contracted with a company then you owe them the money. It seems they’ve assigned the debt to someone else who was not a party to the contract. Maybe you can raise a technical loophole depending on how the debt was assigned?

Question: IF one is the director of a company and owes money, can the creditors come after you as a director?
Answer: They can’t take assets owned by the company just because the director has debt in his/her own name - does that answer your question?

Question: Are you still liable to pay past tax to the tax department if made bankrupt?
Answer: The trustee in bankruptcy will work out what gets paid. If you’re bankrupt you don’t have to worry anymore - they fix up everything, divide it all up and then in 3 years when you’re discharged from bankruptcy you start again, all debts erased - you owe nothing.

Question: My husband and I have separated. I have a statement of claim on the family home, I stand to lose my investment property we used as security which i owned before we got together. I have the family home up for sale but will have a negative asset if it sells. I have found out my husband put a caveat on the family home without me knowing:( He is going really bad in business and has debtors after him everywhere. I am not involved in his business at all. How can i save my investment property? Can his business problems cause problems for our family home? Thankyou
Answer: I’m not sure about the caveat - do you mean one of his creditors put it there, or he personally put it there. It seems irrelevant if there is no equity in the home but you’ll have to get the caveat off when the house is sold. Is the investment property in your name? If so his business debts can’t be enforced against it, unless he gets title to it in the property settlement. Is the investment property cross-collateralised with the home loan - if so, and the home is underwater (you owe more than it’s worth) then they may come after the investment property as well. Don’t have enough details to advise further but feel free to complete the contact from on this site if this answer is too scant. I can probably give better information with more data to go on.

Question: what steps do I take to set up a trust
Answer: It’s probably a bit too technical to go about it yourself but an accountant or lawyer can do it for you. I can do it if you’re interested - just complete the contact from on this site.
Question: thats amazingly good value

Question: What if I have only unsecured loans, because I’m selling the house before I go into battle with my creditors, I’ll have no more assets, what can they do?
Answer: nothing really - garnishee your wages, so make sure some other entity is getting paid - a company or trust and you’re a contractor or consultant. they can try and take your personal property or they could bankrupt you but at the end of the day - what for? You can’t get blood out of a stone.

Question: If I put all monies left from sale into a trustee account, can they get their hands on it
Answer: No - I would set up a loan agreement and simply ‘repay’ the trust the money you ‘owe’ it out of the proceeds of sale

Question: My unsecured loans are approx $95K
Answer: Hmmm that’s a fair whack to carry with no other security - Have you considered asset protection and walking away? Let them go their hardest!

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