Fair outcomes for all parties to a bankruptcy
Bankruptcy isn’t the end of the story
When a business or individual goes bankrupt, they aren’t the only party affected – their inability to pay their debts also affects their creditors.
The big banks aren’t the only creditors, either – a bankrupt or insolvent party may owe money to local businesses just like yours. An inability to provide payment can also hurt these businesses too.
Whether you are a debtor or a creditor (as the case may be), our bankruptcy and insolvency specialists work hard to ensure you receive a favourable outcome.
Bankruptcy or insolvency aren’t the end of the story. With the right advice, your business can bounce back and thrive once more – for creditors, you may still be able to receive any outstanding payments you’re owed.
Is your business struggling to pay its debts? Worried that a debtor’s financial problems will stop you from receiving payment? That’s where we come in.
Helping you take your next step
Whether you owe money and risk becoming bankrupt or whether you are owed money and seek to make someone bankrupt, we are here to help.
Bankruptcy (Personal)
Bankruptcy is a legal process where a Trustee is appointed to administer an insolvent person’s affairs to provide a fair distribution of that person’s assets to their creditors. We can act on behalf of both debtors (the bankrupt) and creditors in terms of the Bankruptcy Act 1966.
We can help debtors:
- Set aside Bankruptcy Notices
- Defend Creditors’ Petitions
We can help creditors:
- Serve Bankruptcy Notices on debtors
- Serve Creditors’ Petitions on debtors
Liquidations (Corporate)
When a company is unable to pay its debts, it can be wound up (liquidated) under the Corporations Act 2001.
One common way is to issue a Creditors’ Statutory Demand which are notices served on companies requiring payment of a debt within 21 days failing which the debtor company is deemed to be unable to pay its debts and can be liquidated.
We can help debtors:
- Apply to set aside a Creditor’s Statutory Demand
- Defend liquidation proceedings
We can help creditors:
- Prepare and serve Creditors’ Statutory Demands
- Prepare and serve liquidation applications
- Commence liquidation proceedings
- Prepare and serve Creditors’ Statutory Demands
Insolvent Trading Claims
Insolvent trading claims are brought against a director of a company by a liquidator for allowing their company to trade while insolvent or incurring a debt that made the company insolvent.
In other words, a debt was incurred at a time where the director knew or should have known that the company would be unable to pay its debts at the time the debt was incurred.
Our bankruptcy and insolvency specialists can:
- Advise Directors with regard to defending proceedings brought against them for an insolvent trading claim
- Advise liquidators with regard to pursuing insolvent trading claims
Uncommercial transactions
Generally, an uncommercial transaction is where a liquidator seeks to recover the loss suffered by a company in liquidation for having disposed of an asset at “less than market value”.
We can advise liquidators and third parties regarding such claims and defences to these claims.
Unfair preference claim
We can advise liquidators and creditors with regard to undue preference claims. The elements of a preference payment are:
- A transaction was entered into (usually a payment of monies)
- It was between the company in liquidation and a creditor of the company
- It happened when the company was insolvent
- It happened within the Statutory period before the liquidation started (6 months)
- The transaction gave the creditor an advantage over other creditors
- The creditor suggested or had reason to suspect that the company was insolvent
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