Lacombe Avocats

Bankruptcy is a set of federal laws and rules that can help individuals and businesses who owe more debt than they can pay by liquidating assets to pay their debts or by creating a repayment plan.

Bankruptcy cases are filed in the bankruptcy court. Federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction over bankruptcy cases. This means that a bankruptcy case cannot be filed in a state court.

The primary purposes of the law of bankruptcy are:

• Providing debtors a « new start » in life by relieving most debts, and
• to repay creditors to the extent that the debtor has assets.

A bankruptcy case normally begins by the debtor filing a petition with the bankruptcy court. A petition may be filed by an individual (a debtor), by spouses together (a debtor and joint debtor), or by a corporation or other entity (a non-individual).

The debtor is also required to file statements listing assets, income, liabilities, and the names and addresses of all creditors and how much they are owed. The filing of the petition automatically prevents, or « stays, » debt collection actions against the debtor and the debtor’s property. While the stay remains in effect, creditors cannot bring or continue lawsuits, make wage garnishments, or even make telephone calls demanding payment.

Creditors receive notice from the clerk of court that the debtor has filed a bankruptcy petition. In many bankruptcy cases involving liquidation of the property of individual consumers, there is little or no money available from the debtor’s estate to pay creditors. As a result, in these cases there are few issues or disputes, and the debtor is normally granted a « discharge » of most debts without objection. This means that the debtor will no longer be personally liable for repaying the debts.

In other cases, however, disputes may give rise to litigation in a bankruptcy case over such matters as who owns certain property, how it should be used, what the property is worth, how much is owed on a debt, whether the debtor should be discharged from certain debts, or how much money should be paid to professionals.

Litigation in the bankruptcy court is conducted in much the same way that civil cases are handled in the district court. There may be discovery, pretrial proceedings, settlement efforts, and a trial.