Last resort When there is no money
Insolvency and bankruptcy
Bankruptcy, restructuring and debt relief. The decisive question is rarely whether the debtor goes bankrupt — but where in the queue of creditors your claim stands when they do.
15 concepts
- Avoidance (omstødelse) Avoidance is when the trustee claws a transaction back into the estate — typically a payment that left one creditor better off than the others. Transactions before the cut-off date applies to
- Bankruptcy (konkurs) Bankruptcy is a collective winding-up of an insolvent debtor's estate, in which the creditors are paid according to a fixed order of priority. Insolvency condition
- Bankruptcy estate (konkursbo) The bankruptcy estate is the pool of assets that remains once bankruptcy has been declared — and which the trustee must realise and distribute among the creditors. The trustee (kurator) administered by
- Bankruptcy petition (konkursbegæring) A bankruptcy petition is the creditor's request to the bankruptcy court (skifteretten) to declare the debtor bankrupt. Insolvency and a claim requires
- Compulsory dissolution (tvangsopløsning) Compulsory dissolution is when Erhvervsstyrelsen (the Danish Business Authority) refers a company to the bankruptcy court because it fails to meet its obligations — for instance by not filing its annual accounts. Erhvervsstyrelsen initiated by
- Creditors' meeting (kreditormøde) The creditors' meeting is the meeting at the bankruptcy court (skifteretten) where the trustee reports on the estate and the creditors can vote. The trustee or the bankruptcy court convened by
- Cut-off date (fristdag) The cut-off date is the reference date that determines which transactions can be set aside — typically the day the bankruptcy petition is filed. The day of the petition typically
- Dividend (dividende) The dividend is the percentage of its claim that a creditor is paid out of a bankruptcy estate once the estate's funds have been distributed by order of priority. Often receive 0% ordinary creditors
- Estate of a deceased person (dødsbo) An estate of a deceased person is the deceased's assets, which must be wound up — and where creditors' claims must be filed if they are to be covered. Skifteretten (the probate court) administered by
- Preferential claim (privilegeret krav) A preferential claim ranks ahead in the bankruptcy estate — it is covered before the ordinary unsecured claims, but after the estate's own costs. Konkursloven § 95 (the Danish Bankruptcy Act) ranking
- Restructuring (rekonstruktion) Restructuring is an attempt to save a distressed business through a compulsory composition with creditors or a transfer of the business, instead of bankruptcy. Bankruptcy alternative to
- Skifteretten (the bankruptcy and probate court) Skifteretten is the division of the district court that deals with bankruptcies, restructurings, debt relief cases and deceased estates. Bankruptcy, restructuring, deceased estates deals with
- Statutory debt relief (gældssanering) Statutory debt relief is the insolvency court's reduction or cancellation of a private individual's debt when it is hopeless and permanently beyond reach. Private individuals applies to
- Trustee in bankruptcy (kurator) The kurator is the lawyer appointed by the bankruptcy court (skifteretten) to administer a bankruptcy estate, realise the assets and distribute the proceeds. The bankruptcy court appointed by
- Unsecured claim (simpelt krav) An unsecured claim is an ordinary creditor claim with no priority — it stands at the back of the queue and often receives no dividend at all. Konkursloven § 97 (the Danish Bankruptcy Act) ranking
From dictionary to decision
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