Distribution of property
117.
—(1) Whenever the Official Assignee has sufficient funds in hand for the purpose, he shall, subject to the retention of such sums as may be necessary for the expenses of the bankruptcy, declare and distribute dividends among the creditors in respect of the debts which the creditors have respectively proved.
(2) The Official Assignee shall give notice of his intention to declare and distribute a dividend.
(3) Where the Official Assignee has declared a dividend, he shall give notice of the dividend and of how he proposes to distribute it.
(4) The notice given under subsection (3) shall contain the prescribed particulars of the bankrupt’s estate.
(5) In the calculation and distribution of a dividend, the Official Assignee shall make provision —
(a)
for any provable debt which appears to him to be due to any person who, by reason of the distance of his place of residence, may not have had sufficient time to tender and establish his proof;
(b)
for any provable debt which is the subject of any claim which has not yet been determined; and
(c)
for disputed proofs and claims.
(6) No dividend shall be paid to any creditor which does not amount to $50.
[6/2009]
118.
—(1) A creditor who has not proved his debt before the declaration of any dividend shall not be entitled to disturb, by reason that he has not participated in it, the distribution of that dividend or any other dividend declared before his debt was proved.
(2) When a creditor has proved his debt, he shall be entitled to be paid out of any money for the time being available for the payment of any further dividend, any dividend or dividends which he has failed to receive.
(3) Any dividend or dividends payable under subsection (2) shall be paid before that money is applied to the payment of any such further dividend.
119.
—(1) When the Official Assignee has realised all the bankrupt’s estate or so much of it as can, in the opinion of the Official Assignee, be realised without needlessly protracting the proceedings in bankruptcy, he shall give notice in the prescribed manner of his intention to declare a final dividend.
(2) The notice under subsection (1) shall contain the prescribed particulars and shall require claims against the bankrupt’s estate to be established by a date (referred to in this section as the final date) specified in the notice.
(3) The court may, on the application of any person, postpone the final date.
(4) After the final date, the Official Assignee shall —
(a)
defray any outstanding expenses of the bankruptcy out of the bankrupt’s estate; and
(b)
if he intends to declare a final dividend, declare and distribute that dividend without regard to the claim of any person in respect of a debt not already proved in the bankruptcy.
120.
—(1) Where one partner of a firm is adjudged bankrupt, a creditor to whom the bankrupt is indebted jointly with the other partners of the firm, or any of them, shall not receive any dividend out of the separate property of the bankrupt until all the separate creditors have received the full amount of their respective debts.
(2) Where joint and separate properties are being administered, dividends of the joint and separate properties shall, subject to any order to the contrary that is made by the court on the application of the Official Assignee or any person interested, be declared together.
(3) The expenses of and incidental to the dividends shall be fairly apportioned by the Official Assignee between the joint and separate properties, regard being had to the work done for and the benefit received by each property.
121.
—(1) No action for a dividend shall lie against the Official Assignee.
(2) If the Official Assignee refuses to pay any dividend, the court may, if it thinks fit, order the Official Assignee to pay the dividend, and also to pay out of the Consolidated Fund interest thereon for the period that it is withheld and the costs of the application to the court.
122.
—(1) The bankrupt shall be entitled to any surplus remaining after payment in full of his creditors, with interest as by this Act provided, and of the costs, charges and expenses of the proceedings under the bankruptcy application.
[42/2005]
(2) Notwithstanding subsection (1), the court may make an order directing the Official Assignee not to pay the surplus or part thereof to the bankrupt if —
(a)
the Attorney-General applies for an order under this section; and
(b)
the court is satisfied that —
(i)
proceedings under any written law dealing with confiscation of the proceeds of crime are pending; and
(ii)
the property of the bankrupt may become subject to a confiscation order or be required to meet some other order made on those proceedings.
(3) The court may, on an application, vary or revoke an order made under subsection (2).