Additional Information

• Bankruptcy Basics
• Legal Information Institute
• United States Courts Bankruptcy Info
• Middle District of Georgia
• Northern District of Georgia
• Southern District of Georgia

Bankruptcy laws help people who can no longer pay their creditors get a fresh start – by liquidating 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.

The primary purposes of the law of bankruptcy are:

• to give an honest debtor a "fresh start" in life by relieving the debtor of most debts.
• to repay creditors in an orderly manner to the extent that the debtor has property available for payment.  (Source: http://www.uscourts.gov/FederalCourts/Bankruptcy.aspx)

There are two basic types of Bankruptcy proceedings. A filing under Chapter 7 is called liquidation. It is the most common type of bankruptcy proceeding. Liquidation involves the appointment of a trustee who collects the non-exempt property of the debtor, sells it and distributes the proceeds to the creditors. Bankruptcy proceedings under Chapters 11, 12, and 13 involve the rehabilitation of the debtor to allow him or her to use future earnings to pay off creditors. (Source: http://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/bankruptcy)

Below is a general guide to Bankruptcy Basics provided by Bankruptcy Judges Division of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.  This is not a guide to filing for bankruptcy however it does provide general information about Bankruptcy Law and processes.  For more information on filing for Bankruptcy, please contact our office for your initial consultation.

Bankruptcy Basics*

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