RAND California Bankruptcy Category Definitions

RAND California Bankruptcy Category Definitions

Chapter	Definition
Chapter 7	Chapter of the Code addressing liquidation and available to both individual and business debtors. Its purpose is to achieve a fair distribution to creditors of whatever non-exempt property the debtor has and to give the individual debtor a fresh start through the discharge in bankruptcy.
Chapter 9	Chapter of the Code addressing the adjustments of debts of a municipality.
Chapter 11	Chapter of the Code addressing reorganization and available for both individual and business debtors. The purpose of Chapter 11 is to rehabilitate a business as a going concern or reorganize an individual's finances. The Chapter 11 debtor is given a fresh start through the binding effect on all concerned of the order of confirmation of a reorganization plan.
Chapter 12	Chapter of the Code designed to give special relief to a family farmer with regular income.
Chapter 13	Chapter of the Code used as a rehabilitation vehicle for an individual with regular income whose debts do not exceed specified amounts, typically used to budget some of the debtor's future earnings under a plan through which creditors are paid in whole or in part.

Source: Bankruptcy Overview: Issues, Law and Policy, Third Edition. Published by the American Bankruptcy Institute.