Our bankruptcy practice is focused upon securing protection for individuals.  However, if you are thinking about filing for bankruptcy, it is important to have a basic understanding of the rights your creditors (the people or companies you owe money to) will have under the bankruptcy laws.  If you have assets that are not exempt, your creditors have a right to share in any distribution from the bankruptcy estate according to the priority of their claim.  As I recently discussed here, under the bankruptcy code, non exempt property is liquidated by the trustee in a Chapter 7 to provide a fund to pay claims of creditors.  

In Chapters 11, 12, and 13, creditors also have the right to be heard by the court in matters concerning the debtor's plan, the liquidation of the debtor's non-exempt assets, and payments from the assets of the estate.  They may also challenge an individual debtor's right to a discharge either as whole or with respect to that creditor's particular debt.

Once a bankruptcy petition is filed, creditors are generally required to cease collection actions, including telephone calls, billing or law suits that might be pending against the debtor.  This is a function of the automatic stay, as discussed in more detail in this recent entry from the National Bankruptcy Forum.   

If you are thinking about bankruptcy and have concerns about what actions your creditors may take, discuss these concerns with a local bankruptcy attorney.

-Drew Broaddus