Facts
This decision concerns the seizure or sequestration of the income of a self-employed worker (an architect in this case). The main points are as follows:
- The maximum duration for which the debtor's future income can be seized or sequestered is limited to one year, in order to protect both the debtor and the other creditors.
- When the income of a self-employed worker is seized or sequestered, the necessary expenses for the exercise of his activity (the "production costs") must first be deducted from the gross income, in order to determine the net income that can be seized.
- The debtor cannot determine the amount of the necessary production costs himself; it is up to the debt collection office to establish them, based on the accounts or by comparison with other similar businesses.
- Only the costs that are actually necessary for obtaining the income can be deducted; expenses that do not contribute to the increase of the professional income cannot be taken into account.
- The debtor's minimum living allowance must also be deducted from the net income to determine the amount that can be seized or sequestered.
Considerations
In this case, the debt collection office must still examine certain elements in detail to determine the architect's actual necessary production costs, such as the rent of his office, photocopying expenses, etc. It must also establish the debtor's average monthly gross income, and then deduct the production costs and the minimum living allowance to calculate…