Even the most intelligent plans can go awry due to changes in the market or the competitive landscape, consumer preferences, increased expenses, or cash flow issues. Businesses are started with the best of intentions.
Your personal and corporate commitments are frequently linked, so personal insolvency could potentially have a significant effect.
What exactly is personal bankruptcy?
An enforceable contract between you and your creditors known as a personal insolvency agreement (PIA) enables you to nimbly settle your debts without filing for bankruptcy.
Under the Bankruptcy Act, declaring yourself legally unable of paying your debts is the process of declaring bankruptcy. Personal insolvency, also known as Part X under the Bankruptcy Act, entails the appointment of a Trustee who will take control of your assets and manage your creditors by extending offers of payment to them to settle your obligations in a lump sum or in installments.
After fulfilling your duties under the arrangement, personal insolvency typically protects you from being pursued by creditors for repayment of the majority of unsecured debts. An unsecured debt is one that hasn’t been secured by assets like properties, like credit cards, personal loans, utility bills, overdue rent, or fees for accounting, law, and other professionals.
It’s crucial to realize that signing a personal insolvency arrangement is the same as declaring bankruptcy, which has major repercussions. Before making formal arrangements with creditors, it is crucial to have individual guidance from a financial counselor because personal bankruptcy agreements have obligations and frequently have legal force behind them.
What effects does personal bankruptcy have on a business?
It is typical for people to run their businesses through a corporation in order to avoid the possibility of being held personally responsible for the debts incurred by the business. Personal bankruptcy does, however, have an effect on the company.
For instance, a person who has been declared bankrupt is ineligible to serve as a corporate director. The appointment of a trustee to handle your obligations and communicate with your creditors is a requirement of entering into a personal insolvency agreement. This effectively makes you give up control of your firm’s shares and any other forms of ownership by making the trustee responsible for your obligations and any shares of the company you may own.
It is the trustee’s duty to work in the best interests of all creditors, and the trustee may do so by, among other things, liquidating your business or selling your stock in the event that doing so will assist in satisfying your debts to creditors.
It would be up to the creditors to ask the court to put your company into liquidation if the trustee assesses that selling your company’s shares or putting it into liquidation would not generate enough money to pay off your debts. Before making decisions about personal insolvency, seek expert counsel because any of these acts taken by the trustee or the creditors could have major repercussions for you and your business.
A director’s or owner’s obligations if they are personally insolvent
Anyone who becomes personally insolvent has a duty to designate a trustee right away to oversee the business, their debt, and their creditors. You must give your trustee all information about your business, its assets, and its values if you are a business owner who has been declared bankrupt or who has gone into a personal insolvency agreement.
As the company’s shareholder, the trustee would take your position, and as required by the Corporations Act, you would need to relinquish all management of the business and stop acting as its director. By realizing the value of the insolvent estate and putting the company into liquidation, the trustee assesses the company’s assets and pays creditors.
All claims made against the company’s director are transferred to their bankruptcy estate. It is your duty as a former director to aid the company’s liquidator in organizing the company’s affairs if one is appointed to the company.
What ought to you do next?
It’s crucial to take action if you are worried about how your personal finances can impact your business, especially if you are a company director or business owner and are facing personal insolvency.
The first step is to consult the specialists and determine the precise issues at hand. To discuss your personal financial status and the corporate interests you have, contact the team Crossroads right away. After talking, you may decide together what steps need to be made to safeguard your company’s interests.
You can also call 0410 555 999 for further questions.
