An annulment of bankruptcy, unlike a discharge of your bankruptcy, is effectively the cancellation of a bankruptcy. There are three ways a bankruptcy may be annulled:
- pay your debts in full, including interest, the realisations charge and your trustee’s expenses and fees. The realisations charge is a percentage of amounts received by a trustee from the sale of a bankrupt’s assets or repayment of debts that must be paid to the government
- your creditors accept a composition or arrangement, which is an offer of something less than payment in full (a proposal under section 73 of the Bankruptcy Act 1966 (Cth)), or
- you successfully apply to the Court for an order annulling your bankruptcy
If a composition or arrangement is accepted, your creditors would expect to receive a larger distribution than they would receive under the continued bankruptcy and the bankrupt would be released from the restrictions associated with bankruptcy.
If the Court is satisfied that a sequestration order ought not to have been made or, in the case of a debtor’s petition, that the petition ought not to have been presented or ought not to have been accepted by the Official Receiver, the Court may make an order annulling the bankruptcy.
Our bankruptcy lawyers have extensive experience in working with bankrupts and trustees to annul bankruptcies through each of the methods available at law.
Our team of experienced insolvency lawyers can assist you with all aspects of personal insolvency.
To find out more about what we can offer, visit our areas of law pages or contact our insolvency solicitors for a consultation.