Pickering Consumer Proposal – ‘Little Joe’
Ten years after Dominic and Emily (not their real names) were married and moved to Pickering, their son Joseph was born. ‘Little Joe’ was the joy of his parents lives. Unfortunately, as he grew, it became clear that something was wrong.
Eventually, Joe was diagnosed as severely autistic. His doctors believed that he would require ongoing care and supervision for the rest of his life.
Emily gladly dedicated herself to providing the full-time care that was needed. Both her and Dominic believed it was the best thing for ‘Little Joe’ and their family. However, it meant that she was not able to bring in the second income that her and Dominic had come to rely on.
When Joe was old enough to start school, Emily thought she might be able to work outside the home again. Unfortunately, the school was not always able to manage Joe – and Emily found herself having to pick him up several times throughout the week, making even a part-time job an impossibility.
Although they received some financial assistance from the provincial government for the care of their son, Dominic and Emily found themselves slipping further and further into financial difficulty.
Finally, they were unable to pay all their debts and began to receive collection calls.
On the advice of a friend, they sought the help of David Sklar & Associates.
During their first meeting with Trina Powell, Estate Administrator they reviewed their financial situation in detail.
Total income $45,000 / year (including government assistance)
Total Unsecured debt: $30,000 on 4 credit cards (one was in Emily’s name the rest in Dominic’s)
No assets in excess of Ontario bankruptcy exemption levels
Both Dominic and Emily wanted to pay their creditors back as much as possible. After talking it over with Trina and the Trustee, they decided to file consumer proposals. The Trustee took care of filing the proposals, which were accepted by their creditors.
Dominic and Emily’s proposals were for combined total monthly payments of $315 to run for 60 months. Once the proposals had been filed, all collection calls stopped, and they were able to go back to focusing on their son. As a condition of their proposals, both Dominic and Emily attended credit counselling sessions.
Although their proposal payments are not yet fully completed, the relief of not having to deal with collection calls, has helped to reduce the stress on this remarkable couple.
To protect our clients’ privacy, aspects of this case study have been altered
