Bankruptcy Filings and Civil Litigation -judicial Estoppel in Action
| Jurisdiction | United States,Federal,Utah |
| Citation | Vol. 24 No. 6 Pg. 34 |
| Pages | 34 |
| Publication year | 2011 |
Vol. 24, No. 6. 34. Bankruptcy Filings and Civil Litigation -Judicial Estoppel in Action
Volume 24 No. 6
Nov/Dec 2011
Bankruptcy Basics
The federal government retains exclusive jurisdiction to administer the United States Bankruptcy Code, which provides relief for financially distressed individuals or corporations to obtain relief from their creditors. Most personal bankruptcies in the United States are filed under Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 of the United States Bankruptcy Code. Bankruptcies filed and granted under Chapter 7 (usually called "no-asset bankruptcy") typically provide debtors with a complete liquidation of their debts and complete relief from their creditors. When a federal bankruptcy court grants relief under Chapter 7, the debtor's obligations are paid out of the bankruptcy estate's existing assets, and most debts are usually wiped away. The case is then said to be "discharged." Bankruptcies filed under Chapter 13 place debtors in a repayment program, where they are obligated to repay all or part of their debts, usually out of future income from employment or other sources. When a bankruptcy court approves a Chapter 13 debtor's proposed repayment plan, the bankruptcy case is said to be "confirmed." Repayment plans usually range from thirty-six to sixty months.
As the United States recession entered its third full year in 2010, the number of personal bankruptcy filings in the United States increased, according to statistics provided by the American Bankruptcy Institute. See generally http://www.abiworld.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NewsRoom/BankruptcyStatistics/ Bankruptcy Filings 1.htm. There were slightly more than 1.5 million personal bankruptcy filings nationwide in 2010. See generally id. This marked a slight increase from the approximately 1.4 million filings in 2009. At the time of the publication of this article, personal bankruptcy filings were expected to decline slightly for 2011 from their 2010 level.
The ratio of personal bankruptcy filings to business filings has steadily increased over the last thirty years. In 1980, personal bankruptcy filings comprised 86% of all bankruptcy filings. By 2010, however, personal filings constituted 96% of all filings. See generally id.
In Utah, bankruptcy filings rose about 26% from approximately 14,000 personal bankruptcies filed in 2009 to approximately 17,000 filed in 2010. Utah ranked ninth out of all fifty states and the District of Columbia in its rate of personal bankruptcy filings in 2010; Nevada held the dubious...
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