who is a defendant in a bankruptcy case?

Question

i have rec summons as a defendant in a bankrupcty case & need to know what this means

Answer 1

If you are the debtor.. i.e. you are the one that declared bankruptcy, then it means that a creditor has filed an action in the bankruptcy court to have some part of the bankruptcy litigated.. its part of an adversarial case.

If you are not the debtor, then it is likely that you owe the debtor money. In that case, the trustee is taking you into court on behalf of the bankruptcy estate, to try and recover the money (or property) that you are holding.

In a small percentage of cases, your creditors may petition the bankruptcy court to force you into involuntary bankruptcy. This is quite rare, and there would almost certainally be extenuating circumstances involved.. (such as, they believe you have sufficient assets to pay them that aren't exempt, etc)

Most bankruptcy cases are voluntary, and there is no true "defendant" when the case is filed. In fact, the caption of a bankruptcy case usually reads:

In re: John Q. Public, debtor


If you have an attorney, call him/her immediately. If you don't have an attorney, I strongly suggest you get one, as soon as possible. If you need an attorney, contact your local or state bar association and ask them for a referral.

Answer 2

You are the Defendant. You will be defending yourself against creditors.

I assume you have an attorney filing the bankruptcy for you...

When you receive a Summons you generally have 30 days to respond to it either by appearing in Court or in writing. Please read the document carefully and do what it asks you to do. If you do not answer a Summons the Plaintiff can proceed without you in front of the Court and you could lose your shorts!

Answer 3

The bankruptcy case is filed against you as a defendant. This means that you will defend yourself against the case.