Bankruptcy Indiana

It's true, and it always has been - the attempt to treat all parties fairly under bankruptcy law. I've watched the evolution of the bankruptcy laws of Indiana over the almost 25 years I've been a debt consolidation lawyer.  In fact, I helped write a portion of the new bankruptcy laws of Indiana.  The guiding principle behind federal bankruptcy law as well as Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcy law in Indiana, is fairness, and the same is true of small business bankruptcy law in Indiana.

Does everybody win, then, in bankruptcy? Of course not. The bankruptcy court system is designed as a safety net to be used when honest debtors become so overwhelmed by negative circumstances beyond their control, that they need to be given the chance for a fresh financial start.

The Indiana lawyers for bankruptcy who wok in the Zuckerberg bankruptcy law offices in Anderson, Bloomington, and Indianapolis, along with the Columbus bankruptcy lawyers in my offices there all deal in personal bankruptcy in Indiana.  In my case, I offer small business bankruptcy help along with personal bankruptcy help in Indiana.  None of us handles big corporations who file bankruptcy.

Still, a good example of fairness can be a publicly held business that files for bankruptcy.  Who gets treated how?  Creditors get paid first (for example banks who lent money to the company).  Bond holders are secured creditors, and they come before the stock holders.  Stock owners may lose all or part of the money they invested - they are last to get paid in a bankruptcy.  In fact, usually the stock of a Chapter 7 bankruptcy corporation has no value.

What I want to bring out here is that, in any bankruptcy, creditors stand to lose at least some money. On the other hand, the bankruptcy system is set up to treat creditors as equally and as fairly as possible.  I can tell you that, over the almost 25 years I've been in bankruptcy courts for creditors' meetings.  The creditors have the right to question the debtor and to look over the bankruptcy statement of assets, income, and expense that I've helped prepare for the occasion.  If creditor feel unfairly treated, they have a chance to put forth arguments during that hearing.

Bankruptcy is no win-win OR a lose-lose.  It's a series of compromises.  The idea is for all parties to "win" as much as possible within a bad situation.