Listing Family/Friends as Claim Holders in a Bankruptcy Filing
A debtor filing bankruptcy is required to list the names and addresses of all entities holding claims against the debtor. As a result of the disclosure a notice of the bankruptcy filing will be sent to the claim holder. Some debtors find the disclosure to be awkward and/or embarrassing as to family/friends. It is common for financial transactions between family/friends to be undocumented or under-documented and there can be questions as to whether the debtor was the recipient of a gift or the subject transaction resulted in a claim.
The dictionary definition of gift is: something that is given to another person or to a group or organization.
The Bankruptcy Code defines claim as: right to payment, whether or not such right is reduced to judgment, liquidated, unliquidated, fixed, contingent, matured, unmatured, disputed, undisputed, legal, equitable, secured or unsecured; or right to an equitable remedy for breach of performance if such breach gives rise to a right to payment, whether or not such right to an equitable remedy is reduced to judgment, fixed, contingent, matured, unmatured, disputed, undisputed, secured, or unsecured.
If the debtor is not certain if a claim exist then the safe thing to do is to list the claim. In addition to complying with the law, the listing may be especially beneficial in a case where a distribution will be paid to the claim-holders—-most debtors would prefer to see family/friends receive a distribution then an institutional claim holder.
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For more than 20 years, the Sasser Law Firm has been helping individuals and business owners sort through financial hardships to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Our North Carolina bankruptcy attorneys are all board-certified specialists, which means we have passed a complex exam, undergone a thorough peer review, and continue to earn legal education credits in this ever-evolving area of law.
