When you file a consumer proposal you will meet with a trusted advisor, who will take the time to assess your entire financial situation. This includes reviewing all of your assets and their value including RRSPs, real estate, cars and investments.
Many individuals feel anxious about supplying information about their assets as they fear that they can be seized and liquidated to pay their creditors. The province sets regulations about those assets that are protected, or “exempt”, and those assets that can be seized.
Regardless of whether you file a consumer proposal or not, your protected assets can not be taken under provincial legislation. They include pension funds, RRSPs that have not had a contribution in the last 12 months, cars valued at less than a set amount of money and several other types of assets. Even if you have assets that are not protected, when you file a consumer proposal there is still a very good chance that you can keep these assets.
In a consumer proposal, your assets do not vest in the administrator. This means that the administrator has no right seize or liquidate your assets without your agreement.Even though the administrator can not seize your assets, they still need to consider their value. When creditors are deciding whether to accept your consumer proposal, they are often looking at your ability to make payments, and the value of your assets. They are more likely to accept your proposal if you are offering them an amount that is higher than the value of your assets.
For this reason, it is important to share with your administrator the full value of your assets so they can help to design a consumer proposal that will allow you hold on to your non-exempt assets, while still being attractive to your creditors.
