Bankruptcy Indiana

A client’s sitting across the table from me at one of the four Mark Zuckerberg bankruptcy law offices in Indiana. He never thought he’d be here.  This is the last place she wants to be. Still, each of them has made the decision – voluntarily - to seek professional Indiana bankruptcy help.  And, as a debt consolidation lawyer offering Indiana bankruptcy information for almost twenty-five years, I can tell you that’s the way things work most of the time, with almost all individual bankruptcy filed in Indiana being voluntary bankruptcy.

In a voluntary bankruptcy, the debtor is petitioning the bankruptcy court asking for relief from debt. Sometimes, though, that’s not the way things work, because there’s also an involuntary bankruptcy.  In that case, it’s creditors who are petitioning the court to force the debtor into bankruptcy.

A recent example of an involuntary bankruptcy has made the news. Just last month, a bankruptcy court judge ordered an Indianapolis business owner, Tim Durham, into bankruptcy. Investors in Durham’s company, Fairfield Financial, had accused Fairfield of securities fraud, the involuntary bankruptcy allows a trustee to take charge of the assets of the company.

More frequently, though, it’s not investors who are the creditors forcing an involuntary bankruptcy.  What typically happens is that creditors suspect the debtor is “dissipating assets”, rather than using those assets towards paying them back what’s owed.  Three or more creditors then get together to prevent further losses by petitioning for an involuntary bankruptcy.

Even though we deal with many small business bankruptcies in Indiana, neither I nor any of the Anderson, Bloomington, Indianapolis, and Columbus bankruptcy lawyers who work in the Mark Zuckerberg bankruptcy law offices handle many involuntary bankruptcy cases. Our clients may feel “forced” into bankruptcy by circumstances beyond their control (usually some combination of divorce, big medical expenses, and job losses), but the bankruptcy itself is not involuntary. It’s simply the best path towards the chance for a fresh financial start!