Bankruptcy

Bankruptcy is a Federal Court process that allows an individual and some forms of business entities such as corporations or limited liability companies to either discharge their debts or repay them over time. The goal of bankruptcy is to provide debtors with a fresh start after debts have become unmanageable.

The Bankruptcy Code if Federal law under Title 11 of the United States Code. This governs all bankruptcy filings and cases, and are handled through specialized Federal Courts referred to as the United States Bankruptcy Courts, of which there are approximately 90 in operation throughout the United States.

While the Bankruptcy Judge oversees the operations of the Court and makes legal decisions, the majority of the work in any bankruptcy case is handled by a court official referred to as a Bankruptcy Trustee. In most bankruptcy cases, individual debtors will likely never appear in front of the Judge, but rather deal only with the Bankruptcy Trustee.

At the most broad level, a bankruptcy case involves three steps:

1. Filing the bankruptcy petition with the Court.
2. Attending the Meeting of Creditors handled by the Bankruptcy Trustee.
3. Discharge of debts if a chapter 7 case, or confirmation of a repayment plan under chapter 13 or 11 followed by a discharge upon completion of the plan.

If you have further questions about this process, please contact the office.