Essential Skills: Bankruptcy
Public examinations & investigations

A trustee has a statutory duty to identify divisible assets and voidable transactions which may be realised for the benefit of creditors of the estate.

Investigating a bankrupt’s examinable affairs includes seeking information from the bankrupt, related parties and others.

However, many bankrupts don’t co-operate with their trustee, making it difficult for the trustee to obtain the necessary information to discharge their duties.

Fortunately, the Bankruptcy Act provides tools to assist trustees in carrying out their investigations, especially where parties are reluctant to provide information.

This course covers the basics of investigating a bankrupt’s examinable affairs, including consideration of the public examination provisions of the Act and the use of section 77AA, 77A and 77C notices. Section 305 funding applications will also be considered.

Learning objectives

At the end of this course you will be able to understand:

• A trustee's duties in investigating a bankrupt's examinable affairs.
• Sources of information available to a trustee.
• The various tools available to a trustees under the Bankruptcy Act to obtain information.

Who should attend?

• Junior insolvency practitioners who want to build their knowledge of insolvency.
• Senior insolvency practitioners who want to refresh their knowledge of this topic.
• Lawyers who want to understand this area of insolvency.

Prerequisites

We recommend you have one year of on-the-job experience in personal insolvency prior to attending this course.

CPE

TBC - maximum of 2 CPE verifiable hours.