Has Personal Bankruptcy Been Shortened?

For proceedings that were opened before October 2020, the usual duration of personal bankruptcy is six years.

A transitional rule applies to procedures that were applied between December 19, 2019, and September 30, 2020. We explained these to you at the end of this article. Besides, if you want to consult a bankruptcy attorney, visit the site https://attorneydebtfighters.com.

In July 2020, the federal government announced that due to the economic consequences of the coronavirus pandemic, a general reduction in personal bankruptcy to three years should be decided. This came into force on October 1st, 2020.

Brief overview:

According to the old law, personal bankruptcy lasted a maximum of six years (proceedings until 30.09.2020).

Proceedings from October 1st, 2020 only take three years.

“Old proceedings” can be shortened to five years by repayment of the procedural costs, or to three years with an additional payment of 35% of the debt.

With an insolvency plan, personal bankruptcy can be shortened to 1 year.

Legacy proceedings: shortening personal bankruptcy to 5 years

For proceedings that were opened before October 1st, 2020, the following applies: For the shortening to five years, only an amount must be repaid that covers the costs of the proceedings. As a rule, the costs of the procedure do not exceed 2,000 Dollars. Anyone who pays back around 35 Dollars a month within five years can shorten the personal bankruptcy to five years.  It is also possible to make the amount as a one-off payment, either because there were seizeable assets at the beginning of the bankruptcy or because an amount became available during the insolvency proceedings – for example through a donation from a third party or a personal loan.

With our five-year calculator, you can calculate whether you can close personal bankruptcy after five years:

Complete personal bankruptcy of an old procedure in 3 years

Even for proceedings before October 1st, 2020, it is possible to achieve discharge of the remaining debt after three years. For this, an amount must be repaid that corresponds to 35% of the original debt amount. The amount of the amount depends on how high the debt was at the beginning of the personal bankruptcy.

In addition, the procedural costs must be paid. These depend, among other things, on the amount of the bankruptcy estate, so the more money has been paid back.

It is difficult to precisely quantify the procedural costs. If there is a high attachable income or the possibility of a donation from relatives, for example, so that approx. 35% of the debts can be paid in three years, our recommendation is an out-of-court settlement.

With our three-year calculator, you can at least roughly calculate whether you can close personal bankruptcy after three years:

Insolvency plan: Shortening personal bankruptcy to 4 – 12 months

After the reform of personal bankruptcy in 2014, debtors were given the opportunity to end their bankruptcy early with a so-called insolvency plan. The insolvency plan is borne by a higher one-off payment made by a “sponsor” (for example family members).

It is specifically prepared in order to achieve the necessary head and sums majority. If the court then recognizes the insolvency plan, the personal bankruptcy is shortened to four to twelve months.

The right tactic is crucial in a bankruptcy plan. It is important that a majority of the creditors who appear at the so-called voting date agree to the insolvency plan. Failing creditors may be prevented from voting on the bankruptcy plan. Here you will find everything about the requirements and chances of success of an insolvency plan.

Personal bankruptcy: what are the costs?

• The costs of personal bankruptcy consist of the attorney’s fee and the procedural costs
• The legal fee for private insolvency consists of a base price of 588.23 Dollars (699.99 Dollars including VAT) and 23.52 Dollars (27.99 Dollars including VAT) per creditor.
• The costs can be paid in installments.
• If advice is provided, our legal support is free of charge
• The procedural costs do not initially have to be paid due to a request for deferral. They are after the personal bankruptcy in installments, but mostly due to low income fully enacted.
• When clarifying the costs, you should pay particular attention to the criteria of reputable debt advice.

The legal fee

Our legal fee for your personal bankruptcy is a fixed price.

A mandate may even cost you nothing at all: this is possible with the help of an advisory assistance certificate. You can find out here whether and how you can apply for a counseling aid certificate.

If no advice is given, we offer our clients fair installment payments so that everyone can take advantage of the opportunity to get quick debt relief. While you are paying the installments (usually in 2-4 months), we are already preparing your debt relief comprehensively, so we will identify your (possibly unknown) creditors and make initial contact with them.

Base price

Personal bankruptcy	588.23 Dollars	(699.99 Dollars including VAT)
Price per creditor	23.52 Dollars	(27.99 Dollars including VAT)
Price per property	104.50 Dollars	(124.36 Dollars including VAT)

The procedural costs

In principle, the bankruptcy debtor also bears the procedural costs – the court costs and the remuneration of the insolvency administrator.

However, the legislature has given the insolvency debtors the option of paying the necessary court costs by deferment only after the end of the period of good conduct in installments (Section 4a InsO). We apply for this for you in all cases of personal bankruptcy.

BUT:

In a very large number of cases, the procedural costs are not repaid at all after the conduct of business period has ended. If a debtor has only a low income, his installments are set to 0 Dollars (so-called zero installments).

After the deferral repayment period of 3 years has expired, the rest of the procedural costs are completely waived – in the case of zero installments, there is no repayment whatsoever.