This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment Question I am in horrible financial shape. I make a good salary but am behind everywhere and now Xmas is coming - any suggestions. ====================================== david ingram replies: As Robbie Burns said, "the Best laid plans o' mice an' men gang aft agley" I am putting the whole poem (which describes a mouse when her home is turned over by a plough) at the end of my answer. It is now about 220 years old but still relevant today. If you have money problems for any reason which could include divorce, separation, unexpected tax penalty, leaky condo, company downsizing, illness, an accident or any combination of the above, you will need help. That help may be as simple as taking an adult education course in family finances at your local high school. Most adult education courses include such a course and even though I taught them for years, it did not keep "me" out of a $5,000,000 bankruptcy after three of the above events occurred. If you need more immediate help (your Shaw.ca email address indicates a Western Canada address) and you happen to live in Greater Vancouver, contact a credit counselor such as Margaret Johnson at SOLUTIONS CREDIT, 200-10351 150th Street in Surrey - 1-877-588-9491 or locally (604) 588-9491. www.creditsolutions.ca www.solutionscredit.com [email protected] As her pamphlet suggests; "Budgeting involves more than just arithmetic. It takes determination. People experiencing financial difficulties need objective, unbiased neutral information." That statement applies to your finances when you have an income and bad spending habits. It does not cover the financial disasters which I seem to see on a daily basis. I am talking about the $186,000 income tax reassessment for something that happened five years ago. I am talking about the leaky condominium crisis where the debt is $100,000 and you would have to earn $190,000 and pay $90,000 income tax to have $100,000 left and that is not counting interest accruing while you are doing it. In this case, you need to consult competent help which does NOT start with a bankruptcy trustee, a night school course, a credit counselor or an accountant. Now, you need a lawyer and not "just" any lawyer. You need a Murray Morrison, who specializes in Bankruptcy law and will work for you and give you and your family the advice it needs to preserve any assets possible and tell you what you can do and cannot do. Why not save a couple of dollars and go directly to the trustee. The trustee does NOT work for you. When you sign that paper, the trustee that you searched out, the trustee that you found in the yellow pages, the trustee your banker, hairdresser, mechanic, best friend or worst enemy recommended is not working for "you". The trustee is working for the creditors. Their job is to get the most for the creditors following local federal, state or provincial guidelines which have different limits in each province and each state. If you are in BC, Murray Morrison is in the same office as Solutions Credit which is just behind the Guilford Shopping Centre at: Murray Morrison 200-10351 150th Street Surrey, BC, CANADA, V3R 4B1 (604) 930-9013 Fax (604) 588-2005 email to [email protected] Talk to someone like Murray first. Get your law straight. Learn what you get to keep and what the limits are. In BC for instance you can have $5,000 equity in a car. However, The Bank of Nova Scotia (for one) will insist on seizing your car even if you have never missed a payment if the car loan is with them. Arranging for someone else to take over the loan before you go bankrupt could make the transition easier. I advised one lady client to go bankrupt at this time last year for a $140,000 tax bill (which was unjust, unfair and illegal in my opinion) which we had fought for two years. (Canada decided to tax her retroactively on her income for five years even though she was an American living in the states. They decided she spent too much time in Canada and she had since moved to Canada officially - Bankruptcy was the only way to get rid of it and start over.) I was blindsided by the Bank of Nova Scotia's new policy of not allowing anyone to keep a car. Luckily, a friend paid out the bank and loaned her the money and she kept her car. It would have been far easier if we had known that in advance. Her Bankruptcy Trustee was blind sided as well. It was the first one he had seen as well. (Ten boos to the Bank of Nova Scotia). After you have made a decision, you need a trustee. Remember, they are all working for your creditors. Gerry Foran at Sands and Associates is a decent guy who you can deal with. Gerry Foran E sands & Associates Inc 1100 Melville Street Vancouver, BC, Canada V6E 4A6 (604) 684-3030 Sands and Associates also have satellite offices in Surrey, Burnaby and Langley. Trustees might not like me saying this but you do not even need money to do it. They can be paid from your assets, tax refund or might not even get paid until after the bankruptcy. While I was actually writing this, another client who I had sent to go bankrupt came in to return some material I had loaned him. I said thank you and suggested that he must have his discharge by now. He did not have it. He only had a conditional discharge because he still owes the trustee $1,500 which he expects to have very soon. Another client is in the same position. However, they do not have a dozen creditors phoning looking for money. Hope this helps. Remember - see the lawyer first - before you see the trustee. And only talk to a lawyer who deals regularly with bankruptcy and appears in court for bankrupts protecting their rights. That means one in 100 lawyers. There is little chance that a lawyer you are already dealing with would be the one you would use because a bankruptcy lawyer is likely too busy to do anything else. Hope this helps! Enjoy "To a Mouse" by Robbie Burns Here is the whole poem: To a Mouse, On Turning up Her Nest with a Plough by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796) Wee sleekit, cowrin, tim'rous beastie, O, what a panic's in thy breastie! Thou need na start awa sae hasty, Wi' bickering brattle! I wad be laith to rin an' chase thee, Wi' murd'ring pattle! I'm truly sorry man's dominion Has broken nature's social union, An' justifies that ill opinion Which makes thee startle At me, thy poor earth-born companion, An' fellow-mortal! I doubt na, whiles, but thou may thieve; What then? poor beastie, thou maun live! A daimen-icker in a thrave 'S a sma' request: I'll get a blessin' wi' the lave, And never miss't! Thy wee bit housie, too, in ruin! Its silly wa's the win's are strewin': And naething, now, to big a new ane, O' foggage green! An' bleak December's winds ensuin' Baith snell an' keen! Thou saw the fields laid bare and waste An' weary winter comin' fast, An' cozie here, beneath the blast, Thou thought to dwell, Till, crash! the cruel coulter past Out thro' thy cell. That wee bit heap o' leaves an' stibble Has cost thee mony a weary nibble! Now thou's turn'd out, for a' thy trouble, But house or hald, To thole the winter's sleety dribble An' cranreuch cauld! But, Mousie, thou art no thy lane In proving foresight may be vain: The best laid schemes o' mice an' men Gang aft a-gley, An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain, For promised joy. Still thou art blest, compared wi' me! The present only toucheth thee: But, oh! I backward cast my e'e On prospects drear! An' forward , tho' I canna see, I guess an' fear! David Ingram's US/Canada Services US / Canada / Mexico tax and working Visa Specialists US / Canada Real Estate Specialists 4466 Prospect Road North Vancouver, BC, CANADA, V7N 3L7 Res (604) 980-3578 Cell (604) 657-8451 (604) 980-0321 New email to [email protected] www.centa.com www.david-ingram.com Disclaimer: This question has been answered without detailed information or consultation and is to be regarded only as general comment. Nothing in this message is or should be construed as advice in any particular circumstances. No contract exists between the reader and the author and any and all non-contractual duties are expressly denied. All readers should obtain formal advice from a competent and appropriately qualified legal practitioner or tax specialist in connection with personal or business affairs such as at www.centa.com. If you forward this message, this disclaimer must be included." 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