Though filing for personal bankruptcy involves a court proceeding, the process is largely administrative in nature. For Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 cases a variety of documents are submitted to the bankruptcy court, a trustee is appointed, and a judge is seldom involved. The process is far more judge-heavy in a Chapter 11 case, but still the process is played out largely on the basis of the official forms prepared by the lawyer in conjunction with the debtor.
To be sure, there are motions to be filed and hearings to be held. But motions are nothing more than formal requests made to the judge; they remain within the context of those official forms that govern the entire process. The bankruptcy system is one of equity, which means that everyone is theoretically working together to get to the same end result within the confines of the law.
But what happens if someone – a debtor, creditor or any other interested party – has a disoute that’s related to the bankruptcy case? As with any other dispute, it would be resolved within the court system through a lawsuit.
When that lawsuit is related to the underlying case, it’s called a adversary proceeding. An adversary proceeding is just like any other federal lawsuit, governed by the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and subject to the same practices as anywhere else. The only distinction is that this lawsuit must be related to the bankruptcy case in order to be filed in this particular place.
In order to be related to the case, the dispute subject to the adversary proceeding needs to be concerned with the debtor’s assets, liabilities or property. It may also be related to the debtor’s discharge (in other words, protecting the discharge or objecting to it).
An adversary proceeding can usually be brought either while the bankruptcy case is going on or afterwards. If it’s brought after the case is completed then the person seeking to bring the proceeding must first get the case reopened by the judge.
Want more information about filing for bankruptcy? I’d like to invite you to visit http://www.NewYorkBankruptcyHelp.com to download my free report and learn more.
Jay S. Fleischman is a New York bankruptcy lawyer and New York State co-chairman for the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys. He is also the co-founder and past President of the Bankruptcy Law Network, where he writes on consumer bankruptcy and related issues.
Though filing for personal bankruptcy involves a court proceeding, the process is largely administrative in nature. For Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 cases a variety of documents are submitted to the bankruptcy court, a trustee is appointed, and a judge is seldom involved. The process is far more judge-heavy in a Chapter 11 case, but still the process is played out largely on the basis of the official forms prepared by the lawyer in conjunction with the debtor.
To be sure, there are motions to be filed and hearings to be held. But motions are nothing more than formal requests made to the judge; they remain within the context of those official forms that govern the entire process. The bankruptcy system is one of equity, which means that everyone is theoretically working together to get to the same end result within the confines of the law.
But what happens if someone – a debtor, creditor or any other interested party – has a disoute that’s related to the bankruptcy case? As with any other dispute, it would be resolved within the court system through a lawsuit.
When that lawsuit is related to the underlying case, it’s called a adversary proceeding. An adversary proceeding is just like any other federal lawsuit, governed by the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and subject to the same practices as anywhere else. The only distinction is that this lawsuit must be related to the bankruptcy case in order to be filed in this particular place.
In order to be related to the case, the dispute subject to the adversary proceeding needs to be concerned with the debtor’s assets, liabilities or property. It may also be related to the debtor’s discharge (in other words, protecting the discharge or objecting to it).
An adversary proceeding can usually be brought either while the bankruptcy case is going on or afterwards. If it’s brought after the case is completed then the person seeking to bring the proceeding must first get the case reopened by the judge.
Want more information about filing for bankruptcy? I’d like to invite you to visit http://www.NewYorkBankruptcyHelp.com to download my free report and learn more.
Jay S. Fleischman is a New York bankruptcy lawyer and New York State co-chairman for the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys. He is also the co-founder and past President of the Bankruptcy Law Network, where he writes on consumer bankruptcy and related issues.
