bankruptcy, the status of a debtor who has been declared by judicial process to be unable to pay his debts. Although sometimes used indiscriminately to mean insolvency, the terms have distinct legal significance. Insolvency, as used in most legal systems, indicates the inability to meet debts. Bankruptcy, on the other hand, results from a legal adjudication that the debtor has filed a petition or that creditors have filed a petition against him.
Bankruptcy laws were enacted to provide and govern an orderly and equitable liquidation of the estates of insolvent debtors. This purpose has remained an important aim of bankruptcy legislation since the Middle Ages. Because in the past bankruptcy was coupled with the loss of civil rights and…
