What To Do If You Never Got Your Discharge

I had a person phone me today who had not been discharged from their bankruptcy, which had been filed more than ten years ago with another firm. They asked me what they should do. The purpose of this post is to answer that question. I should also note that the answer may change from province to province, as the court processes are quite different. Generally, a person who has not been discharged will be subject to a court order. That court order will either set conditions for the person to get their discharge (e.g. complete the required counselling, pay trustee fees etc.) or will have adjourned the discharge sine die (without a date being set for a future hearing). Fundamentally, a person in this situation has two options: a) comply with the conditions set in the order, in which case the Trustee will then go back to court to get an order discharging the individual. If there are no conditions set, contact your trustee and find out what needs to be done before the trustee will go back to court to get the discharge order; or b) apply to the bankruptcy court to vary the terms of the original order. You may need a lawyer to do this depending on the province in question.  Usually, it is easier to comply with the terms of the original order but any bankrupt does have the right to apply to the court to vary the terms of the order after a year has elapsed from the issuance of the order. In either case you will have to discuss the matter with your trustee and, in the second case, give formal notice to the trustee that your are applying to vary the order. Ian Schofield MNP Regina 306-790-7904