EX PARTE BURNETT 1982 (2) ZLR 37 (H)

Flynote

Insolvency C— Insolvency Act [Chapter 303] - petition for rehabilitation — averments necessary in petition — failure by petitioner during insolvency to disclose to trustee increase in income — effect of.

Headnote

It is not sufficient, in a petition for rehabilitation, merely to make the barest possible allegations in conformity with section 143 of the Insolvency Act [Chapter 303]. To do that does not give the Court the information necessary for it properly to form a conclusion or exercise its discretion to grant the application sought. It is incumbent on the petitioner to make the fullest disclosure of the whole of the income accruing to himself and his household, not only because that information bears directly on what he can afford $\epsilon$ towards further payments (particularly if he is earning and the household is partly supported by a spouse) but also since the amendments to the Act extend the estate vesting in the trustee to that of the spouse as well.

Furthermore - and particularly where the dividend paid to the creditors is non existent or miniscule - if the petitioner's income has increased from the level $\epsilon$ it was when his contributions were fixed, an explanation as to why more was not paid to the creditors ought to be provided in the founding affidavit and not left to an answering affidavit. Failure to pay more when able will gravely imperil the petitioner's chances of rehabilitation.