Bankruptcy code - Definition and Overview

Bankruptcy is enabled by the United States Constitution, but its implementation is by statute. The relevant statutes are incorporated within the Bankruptcy Code, located at Title 11 of the United States Code, and amplified by state law in the many places where Federal law either fails to speak or defers expressly to state law.

While Bankruptcy actions in the U.S. occur first in United States Bankruptcy Court (an inferior court to the U.S. District Courts), bankruptcy cases are highly dependant upon State law. State law therefore plays a major role in many Bankruptcy cases, and it is often quite unwise to generalize Bankruptcy issues across state lines.

As of 2005, significant changes to the Code, mostly for the benefit of creditors, are imminent.

History

The extent Bankruptcy Code replaced the old Bankruptcy Act of 1895 in the late 1970s.

See also

Bankruptcy

External link

• USC Title 11 (including links to forms) at the US GPO (http://www.access.gpo.gov/uscode/title11a/11a_1_.html)