A lawsuit filed in the bankruptcy court which is related to the debtor’s bankruptcy case. Examples of these include complaints to determine dischargeability of a debt or a complaint to determine the validity of liens.

Assets are everything and every form of property that the debtor owns. Assets include tangible items such as personal property, as well as intangible property like a business’ goodwill. The debtor is required to disclose all assets of any kind in their bankruptcy schedules. An exemption removes the exempt asset from being property of the bankruptcy estate.

This is the automatic injunction that is issued upon the filing of a bankruptcy case. The Automatic Stay prohibits debt-collection activities against the debtor, the debtor’s property, or the property of the estate.

Title 11 of the United States Code governs all bankruptcy proceedings. Bankruptcy is a matter of federal law, which with the exception of state exemptions, is the same law in every single state. When federal bankruptcy law conflicts with state law, federal bankruptcy law controls.

The bankruptcy estate is all of the legal and equitable interests of the debtor, and is formed by the commencement of the estate. A debtor can claim certain property as being “exempt” from the bankruptcy estate – thereby removing it from the reach of their creditors. Non-exempt property is then liquidated in a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy to pay the administrative costs and claims of the creditors according to their priority.

Chapter 11 is a reorganization process where the debtor may continue to operate the business as a fiduciary. A confirmed Chapter 11 Plan provides for the manner in which the claims will be paid in while, or in part, by the debtor.

A reorganization plan specifically for farmers whose debts fall within certain debt-limits.

A repayment plan for individuals with a regular source of income, whose debts fall below statutory levels but above the median-family income for that state. In a Chapter 13 Plan, the debtor contributes all of their disposable future income to making a monthly plan payment for 3 to 5 years.

Chapter 7 is the most common form of bankruptcy. In a Chapter 7, the debtor’s assets are liquidated. Chapter 7 is available to individual debtors, married couples, partnership businesses, and corporations.

Property which is subject to a lien. A secured creditor is one who has rights in the collateral and is therefore given additional protections in the Bankruptcy Code for the claim secured by the collateral. The general rule with respect to liens is "First in time, first in right."

A plan of reorganization in a Chapter 11, 12, or 13 that is approved by the court and has become binding on the parties confirmed within it.

Debts that are incurred by an individual for personal, family, or household purposes. The means test applies only to those with primarily consumer debts. Taxes are not consumer debts.

Cases under the Code may be converted from one chapter to another chapter by motion. For example, a Chapter 13 case may be converted to a Chapter 7 case, assuming the debtor is eligible, if the debtor falls critically ill or loses their job. It is the same case as originally filed, just governed by a different bankruptcy chapter.

The person or organization to whom the debtor owes money or has some other enforceable legal obligation.

The debtor is the entity (usually a person, partnership, or corporation) who is liable for debts, and who is the subject of a bankruptcy case.