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Each of the
94
federal judicial districts handles bankruptcy matters, and
in almost all districts, bankruptcy cases are filed in the
bankruptcy court. Bankruptcy cases cannot be filed in state court.
Bankruptcy laws help people who can no longer pay their creditors
get a fresh start by liquidating their assets to pay their debts, or
by creating a repayment plan.
Bankruptcy laws also protect
troubled businesses and provide for orderly distributions to
business creditors through reorganization or liquidation. These
procedures are covered under Title 11 of the United States Code (the
Bankruptcy Code). The vast majority of cases are filed under the
three main chapters of the Bankruptcy Code, which are
Chapter 7,
Chapter 11, and
Chapter 13. |
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Bankruptcy Basics provides basic information to debtors,
creditors, court personnel, the media, and the general public on
different aspects of the federal bankruptcy laws. It also provides
individuals who may be considering bankruptcy with a basic
explanation of the different chapters under which a bankruptcy case
may be filed and answers some of the most commonly asked questions
about the bankruptcy process.
In 2005, the Bankruptcy Code
was amended to require that most individual debtors complete a
special briefing from an approved credit counseling agency before
filing a bankruptcy case. In most states, the
United States
trustee is responsible for approving the providers that
offer this special pre-bankruptcy briefing, and in the six districts
located in Alabama and North Carolina, the
bankruptcy administrator assigned to those districts approve
them. The United States trustee and the bankruptcy administrators
maintain a
list of approved providers. |
