Recommendation for Lawyer (Bankruptcy)

Lynn_E

New Member
Dear all,

Long story short, my dad chalked up 100k+ cc debts over a span of 9 years. Majority of the money went to treating my mother who was diagnosed with an illness since 2007. In between, she suffered a mild stroke and her previous illness worsened. All in all, her medical fees and the medicine she's taking till this date aren't cheap. Nursing her back to health took a toll on our financial burden - we can't cut back on food expenses because she needed all the nourishments she can get.

Now, my dad is 2 months behind his repayments and he's been hounded by the banks all day. We're hoping to file an application for bankruptcy but we have no idea on how to go about preparing all the documents. Hopefully someone who has previous bankruptcy experience and can recommend us one lawyer with affordable rates (we can't afford expensive lawyers). Thank you!

P.S Legal Aid Bureau takes way too long to apply, we're running short of time.
 


Russgiam

New Member
You can try to approach Credit Couselling Singapore for their assistance. You can goggle for their information.

I have a friend who had the same situation before, cos of his wife illness. Furnish them the medical reports, bills etc. They can help to discuss and restructure the outstanding.
 

Lynn_E

New Member
You can try to approach Credit Couselling Singapore for their assistance. You can goggle for their information.

I have a friend who had the same situation before, cos of his wife illness. Furnish them the medical reports, bills etc. They can help to discuss and restructure the outstanding.
We've approached CCS for help but they suggested us to opt for bankruptcy. The counsellor we've got was kind of impatient, plus he told us we can only finish paying our debts in 9 years time, which there's a chance the banks won't accept such arrangement. And he didn't bothered to even help us negotiate.

So the only road we can take now is bankruptcy, and finding an affordable lawyer.
 

Bunny26

New Member
Hi Lynn, you do not necessarily have to engage a lawyer to file for bankruptcy proceedings. Samples of the documents required (eg originating summons, affidavit and statement of affairs etc) can be obtained from the insolvency counter at the legal registry of the Supreme Court, level 2. If you require assistance in completing the statement of affairs, you may bring your bank statements and relevant documents to the IPTO at Maxwell road for assistance, upon payment of a prescribed fee. There are subsequent steps such as actually making the filings and the debtor has to swear and affirm the affidavit before a commissioner of oaths. There will be admin fees payable for stamp fees, fee for the commissioner of oaths, etc.

check out this weblink for more info: https://www.supremecourt.gov.sg/data/doc/ManagePage/32/Supreme Court Bankruptcy Brochure.pdf
 

Lynn_E

New Member
Hi Lynn, you do not necessarily have to engage a lawyer to file for bankruptcy proceedings. Samples of the documents required (eg originating summons, affidavit and statement of affairs etc) can be obtained from the insolvency counter at the legal registry of the Supreme Court, level 2. If you require assistance in completing the statement of affairs, you may bring your bank statements and relevant documents to the IPTO at Maxwell road for assistance, upon payment of a prescribed fee. There are subsequent steps such as actually making the filings and the debtor has to swear and affirm the affidavit before a commissioner of oaths. There will be admin fees payable for stamp fees, fee for the commissioner of oaths, etc.

check out this weblink for more info: https://www.supremecourt.gov.sg/data/doc/ManagePage/32/Supreme Court Bankruptcy Brochure.pdf
Hi Bunny, thank you so much for your input. I've actually called IPTO to ask about assistance in filing of the forms because I saw the same brochure info but the told me they do not provide such service. I was directed to Supreme Court enquiry line and they said normally, the applicants sought out their own lawyers & head down with their forms. So they have no way to help too.
 

dynamite28

New Member
Hi,
I need urgent advice.

I have been charged bankruptcy by the bank where I took my car loan with. The court date was 3 weeks ago when I was not in SG and out for business trip for 2 weeks.

I received the letter from the law firm 1 day, on a Friday, before I depart for my trip on Sat and emailed them to tell them my situation and will be back to SG to surrender the car to them. But they replied me 2 days later, 3 days before the court date and I was not away for my biz trip so by the time I read the email it was already 4 days late.

When I returned to SG a week later, I was told that I have been charged bankrupt and all my savings accounts are frozen..

Even my salary account, which I needed the money to pay for my rental and the fees for my kids..

I wrote to IO to appeal twice but they just don't care whether I have a roof to stay anot or my kids needs to go to school anot.. They just asked me to file my statement of affairs..

Now that I m charged bankruptcy, I may lose my job as I m in a senior management role.

I sold my private property 1.5 years ago to pay off my dad's medical expenses and of course my commitment from my family as my husband was out of job for more than 6 months... I have no choice but to sell away the property 5 months before I complete the 4 years, seller stamp duty - I had to pay $60K for my seller stamp duty.

I wrote in 4 times and even with the help of our MP Dr Lee Bee Hua, IRAS rejected my appeal... And said my reasons are not VALID!!! This is a genuine case with supporting documents and if this is not valid reasons, am I supposed to make up stories?? I really don't understand..... If they have reviewed my situation for me..I would not end up today... That will allow me to settle and sort out my financial issue...

Help and advice needed:

1. Can I still annul my bankruptcy order at this stage and propose a repayment plan for the outstanding I owe the bank after they sent my car for auction?

2. I was told my IO that I may need to settle all the outstanding with the bank before I can annul my bankruptcy order.. Not only the current case.. Is that true?

3. I have worked very hard for a promotion in 6 months time and it's an overseas assignment.. With the bankruptcy order... I may not be able to relocate and work overseas anymore right?

4. If I m asked to leave the company now, with my bankruptcy order, that means I will be unemployed... Then how can I still pay my debts? What about the other debts I have with other banks??

4. Do you advice I engage a lawyers I manage this situation for me? If yes, any good recommendations with reasonable fees?

Any constructive advice from precessional or experienced party is appreciated. Thank you.
 

rofthelper

Member
Hi,

Any constructive advice from professional or experienced party is appreciated. Thank you.

You are given 14 days to side aside your case if you have valid reason to do so. (i.e overseas business trip)

If the BO (bankruptcy order) is made against you by the registrar or the judicial commissioner on that hearing day, that is nothing much you can do because you didn't attend the hearing. Once BO is issued to you, all your bank accounts or joint account will be freeze within hours and OA (IPTO) will manage your asset on behalf of your creditor/s, you will received a letter from IPTO very soon to attend the briefing/seminar, open a POSB savings account and file to your statement of accounts.

First of all, try to read up your compy employment terms, whether do you need to declare upfront to your mgmt if your are insolvent. Some cmpy may retain you, or if you are holding "sensitive" positions like finance or procurement, they may relocate you to elsewhere due to conflict of interest. If otherwise, just continue to work as usual.

Secondly, write to your OA (after the briefing/seminar) to retain your insurance policies for the benefit of your family if you can still upkeep it. Otherwise your insurance cmpy will be notified and your policy will be closed and any monetary value goes into your bankruptcy estate.

#1 & #2. As for the annulment, all your creditors will be notified by OA and they will file a proof of debt with your OA. You must propose to pay all outstanding dues in full in order to annul your BO.

#3. As for overseas business leave, you can apply though your OA with singpass for approval. (usually a cmpy letter from HR is required)

#4. That depends with your cmpy employment terms with you. There are compy who are understanding and retain insolvent staff.

Lastly, there is no point seeking help from your MP, nothing much he/she can do. Or legal help from lawyer or consultancy firms, this will incur more unnecessary $$$.
 
Many organizations will only consider filing for bankruptcy as a last resort. They will struggle very hard to pay their creditors. Yet, sometimes bankruptcy is inevitable because of the stringent economic times being experienced. Recessions have resulted in the declaration of bankruptcy by many and this has led to an increase in the demand for bankruptcy lawyer services. Bankruptcy is defined as being unable to offset your debts. Many important sites say this. It is fully recognized by the law and some countries even have bankruptcy laws put in place to regulate the way debtors and creditors relate when a debtor has filed for bankruptcy. Bankruptcy will give the debtor the option of clearing his or her debt fully or partially. This will also depend on the financial state of the debtor.
 

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