| Bankruptcy in the United States |
|---|
 |
| Bankruptcy in the United States |
| Authority · History U.S. Trustee Court · BAP Code · FRBP |
| Chapters |
| Chapter 7 · Chapter 9 · Chapter 11 · Chapter 12 · Chapter 13 · Chapter 15 |
| Aspects of bankruptcy law |
| Automatic stay · Discharge Bankruptcy trustee · Claim Means test · DIP |
A discharge in United States bankruptcy law, when referring to a debtor's discharge, is a statutory injunction against the commencement or continuation of an action (or the employment of process, or an act) to collect, recover or offset a debt as a personal liability of the debtor. The discharge is one of the primary benefits afforded by relief under the Bankruptcy Code and is essential to the "fresh start" of debtors following bankruptcy that is a central principle under federal bankruptcy law. A discharge of debts is granted to debtors but can be denied or revoked by the court based on certain misconduct of debtors, including fraudulent actions or failure of a debtor to disclose all assets during a bankruptcy case.
The benefit of the discharge injunction is narrower than (but similar to) the benefit afforded by the automatic stay in bankruptcy.
U.S. law also provides for specialized discharges in bankruptcy (see below).
Bankruptcy discharge for the debtor
In the United States, there are generally seven kinds of debtor discharges in bankruptcy, found in the following statutes:
-
- 11 U.S.C. § 1141(d)(1)(A) (relating to discharges resulting from confirmation of a Chapter 11 plan of reorganization);
The effect of the debtor's discharge is provided for at 11 U.S.C. § 524. In addition, certain limitations on the debtor's discharge are described at 11 U.S.C. § 523.
For more information on the debtor's discharge, see Bankruptcy in the United States.
Other discharges in bankruptcy
In the United States, with respect to taxes incurred by the bankruptcy estate (as opposed to the debtor) during case administration, a specialized discharge for the trustee, the debtor, any successor to the debtor, and (for cases commenced on or after October 17, 2005) the bankruptcy estate is provided in 11 U.S.C. § 505(b).
At the conclusion of a case the trustee (if any) may be discharged as trustee under 11 U.S.C. § 350(a).
References
 |
This article relating to law in the United States, or its constituent jurisdictions is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
