Susan and Ryan called Australian Bankruptcy Services for advice on filing for bankruptcy. Susan and Ryan have several credit cards and one personal loan and used the credit card to shop on-line.

Susan loved shopping on-line so much that she wanted to know if she could keep her credit card if she filed for bankruptcy. In other words she wanted to exclude one credit card from her bankruptcy application even though she had an amount outstanding on it.

We explained to Susan that when you file for bankruptcy in Australia you must disclose all debts outstanding in your bankruptcy application (the formal process is to complete a Statement of Affairs).

The risk or downside to not disclosing all debts or amounts outstanding is that your bankruptcy can be extended from the standard 3 years to 8 years in total.

So the advice we provided Susan was:

• If you file for bankruptcy, you do not get to pick and choose the creditors that you include in your bankruptcy – you must disclose all creditors and debts outstanding.
• If you declare bankruptcy you are required to destroy all credit cards and not use them again – using credit cards after filing for bankruptcy would be an offence.
• If you declare bankruptcy and fail to list or disclose all debts this could have the effect of extending your bankruptcy to 8 years.

If you need advice on filing a bankruptcy application in Australia please call a personal bankruptcy expert on 1800 462 767.