People with financial dificulties sometimes consider bankruptcy as a legal remedy. This pamphlet is intended to provide you with general information about bankruptcy and other alternatives to easing the burden of too many debts. It is not intended to be a substitute for consultation with qualified legal, or financial advisers.
Bankruptcy is a court supervised procedure to provide relief from debts.
In general, its purpose is to ease the burden of too many bills and to arrange an equitable distribution of available assets among a debtor's creditors. A third form of bankruptcy, Chapter 11, is primarily designed to allow reorganization of a going business. Under this Chapter's provisions, a debtor continues to operate with certain court protection from creditors' legal proceedings while the debtor attempts to work out a plan to pay the creditor. Chapter 11 is a relatively expensive and cumbersome process with specific restrictions that are beyond the scope of this pamphlet. While bankruptcy is generally a complete and effective legal remedy for someone with serious financial dificulties, it may not be the best solution for every financial problem.