Need Help Understanding Some Bankruptcy Law Terms? Here Are a Few of the Most Common:

A
Adversary proceedings – A lawsuit arising from or related to a bankruptcy case that’s commenced by filing a complaint. A list of all adversary proceeding is outlined in Fed. R. Bankr. P. 7001. Bankruptcy courts may hear and determine any issue which is related to the bankruptcy situation, subject (in some instances ) to review from the federal District Court.

B
Bankruptcy – A legal procedure for dealing with debt problems of individuals and companies; particularly, a case filed under one of those chapters of title 11 of the United States Code (the Bankruptcy Code).

Bankruptcy secretary – An officer of the judiciary serving in the judicial districts of Alabama and North Carolina who, like the U.S. trustee, is responsible for overseeing the administration of bankruptcy cases, estates, and trustees; monitoring plans and disclosure statements; monitoring creditors’ committees; tracking fee applications; and performing other statutory obligations. Compare U.S. trustee.

Bankruptcy Code – The informal name for title 11 of the United States Code (11 U.S.C. §§ 101-1330), the federal bankruptcy legislation. Bankruptcy courtroom The bankruptcy judges in regular active service in each district; a component of the district court.

Bankruptcy estate – All interests of the debtor in property at the time of their bankruptcy filing. (The estate includes all property in which the debtor has an interest, even if it’s owned or held by someone else.)

Bankruptcy judge- Bankruptcy request – The record filed with the debtor (in a voluntary instance ) or by lenders (within an involuntary case) in which opens the insolvency situation. (There are official forms for bankruptcy petitions.)

C
Chapter 7 – The chapter of the Bankruptcy Code providing for”liquidation,”(i.e., the selling of a debtor’s nonexempt property and the supply of the proceeds to creditors.)

Chapter 9- The chapter of the Bankruptcy Code providing for reorganization of all municipalities (which includes towns and cities, in addition to villages, counties, taxing districts, municipal utilities, and school districts).

Chapter 11- The chapter of the Bankruptcy Code providing (normally ) to get reorganization, typically involving a corporation or partnership. (A chapter 11 debtor usually proposes a plan of reorganization to keep its business alive and pay creditors over time. People in business or individuals can also seek relief in chapter 11.)

Chapter 12- The chapter of the Bankruptcy Code providing for adjustment of debts of a”family farmer,” or even a”family fisherman” as these terms are described in the Bankruptcy Code.

Chapter 13 – The chapter of the Bankruptcy Code providing for adjustment. (Chapter 13 allows a debtor to keep property and pay debts over time, typically three to five decades.)

Chapter 15 – The chapter of the Bankruptcy Code.

Claim – A creditor’s assertion of a right to payment against the debtor’s land or the debtor.

Confirmation- the acceptance of a plan of liquidation or reorganization in chapter 11, or payment strategy in chapter 12 or 13 of a Bankruptcy judge

Consumer loans – Debts. Not all debts which you may believe are”consumer debts” really are; for instance, taxation and student loans normally are NOT”consumer loans.”

Matter – contained in Rule 7001.

Launched claim – A claim that may be owed by the debtor under certain conditions, e.g., in which the debtor is a cosigner on another individual’s loan and that person fails to cover.

Creditor – One to whom the debtor owes money or who claims to be owed money by the borrower.

Credit counseling – Normally refers to two occasions from individual bankruptcy cases: (1) that the”person or group briefing” by a nonprofit budget and credit counseling agency which debtors must attend before filing under any chapter of the Bankruptcy Code; also (2) that the”instructional course in personal financial management” in chapters 7 and 13 an individual debtor must finish prior to a discharge is entered. There are exceptions for the two conditions for specific types of debtors, exigent conditions, or whether the U.S. trustee or bankruptcy administrator have ascertained that there are inadequate approved credit counseling agencies available to provide the essential counseling.

Creditors’ assembly – see 341 assembly Present monthly earnings – The average annual income received by the borrower within the six calendar months prior to commencement of this bankruptcy case, including regular contributions to household expenditures from nondebtors and earnings from the borrower’s spouse in the event the request is a joint request, but not including social security income and some other obligations made because the borrower is the victim of certain offenses. 11 U.S.C. § 101(10A).

D
Debtor – A person that has filed a request for relief.

Debtor instruction – see the credit counseling

Defendant – A person (or business) against whom a suit is filed.

Discharge – A release of a debtor from personal liability for certain dischargeable debts. A discharge releases a debtor from personal liability for certain debts known as”dischargeable debts” and prevents the creditors owed those debts from taking any actions against the debtor, personally, to collect the debts. The discharge also prohibits creditors from communicating with the debtor concerning the debt, including phone calls, letters, and personal contact. The discharge doesn’t prevent a borrower; it removes the creditor’s capability to induce payment. Secured lenders (mortgages, car loans) can nevertheless repossess the house if payments ceased.

Debt A debt for. If state law allows it the discharge doesn’t stop the creditor from repossessing or foreclosing.

Disclosure announcement – A written document prepared by the chapter 11 debtor or another plan proponent that’s designed to provide”adequate information” to creditors to allow them to assess the chapter 11 plan of reorganization.

E
Equity – The value of a debtor’s interest in property that remains after liens and other creditors’ interests are considered. (Exampl e: If a house valued at $100,000 is subject to an $80,000 mortgage, then there’s $20,000 of equity)

Lease or contract – includes contracts or leases under. (If a contract or lease is executory, a debtor may assume it or reject it.) Exemptions, exempt land – property possessed by an individual debtor the Bankruptcy Code or applicable state law allows the borrower to keep from unsecured lenders. By way of instance, in certain states the borrower might have the ability to pay off all or some of the equity in the debtor’s principal residence (homestead exemption), or any or all”tools of the trade” used by the borrower to create a dwelling (i.e., automobile tools for an automobile mechanic or dental instruments to get a dental practitioner ). The amount and the availability of land the debtor may exempt depends.

F
A family farmer or family fisherman – An individual, individual and spouse, corporation, or partnership engaged in a farming or fishing operation that satisfies certain debt limits and other statutory criteria for filing a petition under chapter 12.

Move – A transfer of a debtor’s property made with intent to defraud or for which the borrower receives less than the.

New beginning – The characterization of a debtor’s status after bankruptcy, i.e., free of all debts. Giving debtors a fresh start is an essential purpose of the Bankruptcy Code.

I
Insider (of individual debtor) – Any relative of the debtor or a general partner of the borrower; venture where the debtor is a general partner; general partner of the borrower; or a company of which the debtor is a director, officer, or person accountable.

Insider (of corporate debtor) – A director, officer, or person in control of the debtor; a partnership where the debtor is a general partner; a general partner of the borrower; or even a relative of a general partner, manager, officer, or person in charge of the borrower.

J
Government – A court-approved mechanism under. (Assuming no conflicts of interest, these different companies or individuals can pool their resources, hire the very same professionals, etc..)

Petition – One bankruptcy petition filed by a husband and wife.

L
Lien – The right to take and hold or sell the home of a debtor as security or payment for a debt or obligation.

Liquidation – A sale of a debtor’s property with the proceeds.

Liquidated maintain – A lender’s claim for a specific sum of cash.

M
Means evaluation – Section 707(b)(2) of the Bankruptcy Code employs a”means test” to ascertain if an individual debtor’s chapter 7 filing is assumed to function as an abuse of the Bankruptcy Code requiring dismissal or conversion of this situation (generally to chapter 13). Abuse is presumed if the debtor’s aggregate current monthly earnings (see definition above) more than five decades, net of specific statutorily granted expenses is greater than (I) $10,000, or (ii) 25 percent of the debtor’s nonpriority unsecured debt, provided that that amount is at least $6,000. The debtor may rebut a presumption of abuse only with a showing of special circumstances that justify additional expenses or adjustments of current monthly earnings.

Motion – to lift the automatic stay or to get relief from stay – a petition by a creditor to allow the creditor to take actions against the debtor or the debtor’s property which would otherwise be prohibited by the automatic stay.

N
Situation – A chapter 7 case where there are no resources available to satisfy any portion of the creditors’ unsecured claims.

Debt A debt that can’t be eliminated in bankruptcy. Examples include debts for alimony or child support, certain taxes, debts for most government funded or guaranteed educational loans or benefit overpayments, debts arising from death or personal injury brought on by driving while drunk or under the influence of drugs, and debts for restitution or a criminal fine included in a sentence on the debtor’s conviction of a crime. Some debts, like debts for money or property obtained by pretenses and debts for fraud or defalcation while acting in a fiduciary capacity, may be declared nondischargeable only in case a creditor timely files and prevails in a nondischargeability action. Mortgage debt is dischargeable. However the creditor may reevaluate if the mortgage isn’t paid, but it can’t accumulate a deficiency when the foreclosure doesn’t lead to full payment unless the mortgage has been repaid during the bankruptcy case.

O
Objection to dischargeability – A trustee’s or creditor’s objection to the debtor. Reasons include allegations that the debt was incurred by pretenses when acting as a fiduciary or debt originated due to the debtor’s fraud.

Objection to exemptions – A trustee’s or creditor’s objection to the debtor’s attempt to claim certain property as exempt from liquidation.

P
Party in interest-. The borrower, the U.S. trustee or bankruptcy administrator, the case trustee and creditors are parties accountable for the majority of matters.

Request preparer – A business not authorized.

Strategy – A debtor’s detailed description of how the debtor proposes to pay creditors’ claims.

Plaintiff – A person or company that files a formal complaint.

Postpetition moves – A move of the debtor’s property.

Prebankruptcy planning – The arrangement (or rearrangement) of a debtor’s property to allow the borrower to take maximum advantage of exemptions. (Prebankruptcy planning typically includes converting nonexempt assets into exempt assets.)

Preference or preferential debt repayment – A debt payment made to a creditor at the 90 days before a debtor files bankruptcy (or within a year if the creditor was an insider) that gives the creditor more than the creditor would receive from the debtor’s chapter 7 case.

Presumption of abuse – see signifies evaluation Priority – The Bankruptcy Code’s statutory ranking of unsecured claims that determines the order in which unsecured claims will be paid if there isn’t sufficient cash to pay all unsecured claims in full. By way of instance, under the Bankruptcy Code’s priority scheme, cash owed to the case trustee or to get prepetition alimony, or child assistance has to be paid in full before any general unsecured debt (i.e., exchange credit or debit card debt) is compensated off

Priority asserts – An unsecured claim that’s entitled to be paid. Priority refers to the order in.

Evidence of claim – confirming documentation and A statement filed by a creditor that clarifies the reason why. (There is an official form for this use.)

Land of this estate – All interests of the debtor in property at the initiation of the situation.

R
Reaffirmation agreement – an agreement by a chapter 7 debtor to keep on paying a dischargeable debt (for instance, an automobile loan) after the bankruptcy, usually to maintain security (i.e., the automobile ) that will otherwise be subject to repossession. Clients discourage since it usually means that the customer remains liable for the debt, from reaffirming debts. For auto loans or mortgages, reaffirmation isn’t necessary since the creditor foreclose the mortgage or can repossess the car.

S
Secured lender – a creditor holding a claim against the borrower with the right to accept and hold or sell certain property of the debtor in satisfaction of a few or all the claim, even after a bankruptcy discharge.

Secured debt – Debt backed by a mortgage, pledge of collateral, or other lien debt where the creditor has the right to pursue specific pledged property upon default. Examples include tax exemptions and home mortgages, automobile loans.

Schedules – Thorough lists registered by the debtor and (or soon after filing) the request showing the debtor’s assets, liabilities, and other financial details. (There are official forms a debtor must use.)

Small company case – A distinctive sort of chapter 11 case where there is no creditors’ committee (or the creditors’ committee is deemed inactive by the court) and where the borrower is subject to greater supervision from the U.S. trustee compared to any chapter 11 debtors. The Bankruptcy Code contains provisions designed to decrease the time there is a small business debtor in bankruptcy.

The announcement of financial affairs – A collection of questions the debtor must answer in writing concerning sources of income, transfers of property, lawsuits by creditors, etc. (There is an official form a debtor must use.)

Announcement of aim – A statement made by a chapter 7 debtor concerning plans for dealing.

Consolidation – Placing assets and liabilities of two or more related debtors into a single pool. (Courts are reluctant to permit substantive consolidation since the action must not just justify the benefit that one set of creditors receives, but also the harm that other creditors suffer as an outcome.)

341 meeting – The meeting of creditors required by section 341 of the Bankruptcy Code where the debtor is questioned under oath by creditors, a trustee, examiner, or the U.S. trustee about their fiscal affairs. Known as creditors’ assembly.

T
Transport – Any mode or means by. Trustee – The agent of the bankruptcy estate who exercises statutory powers, principally for the benefit of the unsecured creditors, under the general oversight of this court and the direct supervision of their U.S. trustee or bankruptcy administrator. A trustee is a private person or corporation. The trustee’s responsibilities include reviewing the debtor’s petition and schedules as well as bringing actions against creditors or the debtor to recoup property of the bankruptcy property. In chapter 7, the trustee makes distributions to creditors and liquidates property of this property. Trustees in chapter 12 and 13 have obligations to the added responsibilities of overseeing the debtor’s plan, receiving payments from debtors, and disbursing plan payments to creditors and a chapter 7 trustee.

U
U.S. Obligations – An officer of the Justice Department responsible for overseeing the administration of bankruptcy cases, estates, and trustees; monitoring plans and disclosure statements; monitoring creditors’ committees; tracking fee applications; and performing other statutory obligations. Bankruptcy administrator compare.

Claim – A debt secured.

Claim – A claim for.

Debt A debt that should have been recorded from the debtor in the schedules. (Depending on the conditions, an unscheduled debt may or might not be discharged.)

Claim – A claim or debt for which a creditor holds no special assurance of payment, like a lien or mortgage debt for.

V
Voluntary move – A transfer of a debtor’s property with the debtor’s approval.