Article Categories

»	Arts & Entertainment
»	Automotive
»	Business
»	Careers & Jobs
»	Education & Reference
»	Finance
»	Food & Drink
»	Health & Fitness
»	Home & Family
»	Internet & Online Businesses
»	Miscellaneous
»	Self Improvement
»	Shopping
»	Society & News
»	Sports & Recreation
»	Technology
»	Travel & Leisure
»	Writing & Speaking

Reprint Article Code

Category: Articles » Finance » Bankruptcy » Article » Article Code

Bankruptcy Defined

Bankruptcy is a legally declared inability or impairment of ability of an individual or organization to pay their creditors. A declared state of bankruptcy can be requested by creditors in an effort to recoup a portion of what they are owed; however, in the overwhelming majority of cases, the bankruptcy is initiated by the bankrupt individual or organization. Bankruptcy occurs when a business cannot meet its debt obligations and petitions a federal court either for reorganization of its debts or liquidation of its assets (although this action has a negative impact on a credit rating). It ... read more

Article Title:

Article Body:

Bankruptcy occurs when a business cannot meet its debt obligations and petitions a federal court either for reorganization of its debts or liquidation of its assets (although this action has a negative impact on a credit rating).

It also refers to statutes and judicial proceedings involving persons or businesses that cannot pay their debts and seek the assistance of the court in getting a fresh start. Under the protection of the bankruptcy court, debtors may be released from or "discharged" from their debts perhaps by paying a portion of each debt. Bankruptcy judges preside over these proceedings. The person with the debt is called the debtor and the people or companies to whom the debtor owes money are called creditors.

When you are unable to pay your debts, you submit yourself to the protection of the state. A person or business may voluntarily declare bankruptcy or may be petitioned into bankruptcy by his creditors. Once in bankruptcy, the person surrenders his assets to a trustee in bankruptcy who sells the assets for the benefit of the bankrupt's creditors, first the secured creditors then the unsecured creditors. Once a person is discharged from bankruptcy, none of his former creditors may pursue him for his former debts.

The primary purposes of the laws of bankruptcy are: (1) to give an honest debtor a "fresh start" in life by relieving the debtor of most debts, and (2) to repay creditors in an orderly manner to the extent that the debtor has the means available for payment.

There are two types of bankruptcy: Involuntary Bankruptcy, where creditors or lenders file a petition against the debtor (person in debt), and Voluntary Bankruptcy, where the debtor files a petition claiming inability to meet creditors' requirements.

Author Bio:

Some other recently published bankruptcy articles

Five Ways How A Credit Monitoring Service Can Help Post-Bankruptcy Individuals Rebuild Their Credit by Dulce Azogue
If you are bankrupt and rebuilding credit, it will be helpful to monitor your progress as you add more positive information to your ...

Dead People Cannot File Bankruptcy by Victoria Ring
Training for attorneys, paralegals and virtual assistants working under the direction of attorneys in debtor bankruptcy law. The other day, an interesting question came into ...

Get To Know The Bankruptcy Filling Process If This Is Your Option by Cornie Herring
Filing for bankruptcy is a very personal decision. Heavy debtors may choose to file a bankruptcy if they see no other way out from ...

What Are The Consequences of Filing For Bankruptcy? by Cornie Herring
Bankruptcy may be your quickest way of getting relief from your unbearable debt, but it is also the most damaging action to your credit ratings. Let us review the consequences of filling for a ...

Personal insolvencies are at record levels across the UK: Which way for the debtor? by Martin McAllister
In the UK, when a debtor owes a sum of money in excess of £750 to a creditor, he can be ...

Smart debt recovery with alternatives to bankruptcy! by Kirthy Shetty
Bankruptcy is a legally declared inability to pay back all your lenders. One can seek out for a creditor in filing bankruptcy, in order to recoup a portion of what you owe. It ...

Publisher Guidelines

You may reprint this article electronically in your newsletter or on your website, free of charge.

If you reprint this article from our site, then you must keep everything intact. This includes the articles title, author name, articles body, authors bio / resource box, the links contained within the article, all copyright notices and the link pointing back to our site. All links within the article must also be made active / hyperlinks.