He who fears to suffer, suffers from fear

An old French proverb says that if you fear suffering you will suffer from fear itself – sometimes fear of a thing is much worse than the reality of it. This is definitely the case with my next common fear about filing bankruptcy in Toronto – the fear of criminal consequences. Many times I have had a person in my office asking me if they will go to jail for not repaying their debts, or if they will lose their passport or citizenship and not be permitted to exit or re-enter the country. Unfortunately, many people put off calling our office because they are afraid that being proactive about their debts will result in losing their status to live as a free Canadian citizen.

The reality is this: debtor’s prison may have a place in the history books but in our society there is no such thing. Not paying your debts or filing for bankruptcy will not put you into to jail. But more importantly, most creditors do not want you in jail because they would prefer that you are working so that they can recover some of the money you owe to them. Likewise, not paying your debts or filing for bankruptcy will not stop you from traveling to visit friends or family abroad – there is no notation on your passport or citizenship that you have filed for bankruptcy. So you should be able to travel outside of Canada and within Canada without any issues.

If you have been putting off dealing with your debt problems because you fear legal consequences like the ones I have illustrated above, please call us to discuss it and we will let you know if you have any real cause for concern or if it is another common myth holding you back that we can chase away for you. Call us today at (416) 730-8060 or 310-PLAN (7526), or send us an e-mail to develop a plan to deal with your debts.

Next week I will finish this series by discussing the most common fear of all: Bankruptcy means that my credit rating will be destroyed for seven years.