+ Section 188 Authority

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A trustee overlooked signing an authority under s 188 of the Bankruptcy Act. Moreover, the signature of the debtor had not been witnessed. The relevant documents were also not properly filed with ITSA.

This came to light after the debtor had complied with the terms of the personal insolvency agreement that was approved by creditors. On the trustee's application, the Court made orders remedying the oversights: Application by Lane in the matter of Bendixsen [2009] FMCA 803. On the trustee's own application, the Court ordered that the trustee's costs be his personal costs.

The decision illustrates that the Courts are available to assist practitioners, as officers of the Court, to validate or otherwise resolve legal difficulties.

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