A bankruptcy discharge is granted by the bankruptcy court to release the debtor permanently from personal liability for certain specified types of debts. In other words, the debtor is no longer legally required to pay any debts that are...
money and financial problems
bankruptcy estate
A bankruptcy estate is the property of the debtor who filed bankruptcy. The estate includes all property in which the debtor has an interest, even if it is owned or held by another person - like obvious and tangible assets, or intangible...
bankruptcy fraud
Bankruptcy fraud is a white-collar crime that commonly takes four general forms:
A debtor conceals assets to avoid having to forfeit them. An individual intentionally files false or incomplete forms. Including false information on a...bankruptcy petition preparer
A bankruptcy petition preparer is a non-lawyer who helps debtors to file their bankruptcy documents required by the bankruptcy court for a fee. Bankruptcy petition preparers are called “paralegals” but may not give legal advice, represent...
bankruptcy proceedings
A bankruptcy proceeding is a legally authorized procedure that a bankruptcy case follows through the court system which consists of approving arrangements for the repayment of debts to relieve the debtor of their liability to creditors. The...
bankruptcy trustee
Bankruptcy trustee is an administrator appointed by the court to oversee the debtor’s estate in a bankruptcy proceeding. The trustee can evaluate and make recommendations about various debtor demands, but cannot act without approval of the...
basis point
A basis point (often abbreviated as bp) is a unit of measurement that denotes a change in the interest rate of a financial instrument and is equal to 1/100th of 1% or 0.01%. It is a usual practice in the financial industry to use basis points...
BCRA
The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA) was signed into law in March of 2002. On the same day that BCRA became official federal policy, Senator Mitch McConnell and the National Rifle Association (NRA) both filed complaints...
bearer paper
A bearer is an individual who is in possession of a negotiable instrument, document of title, or proof of security that is either payable to the person in possession (ie. payable to bearer) or endorsed in blank. These types of instruments are...
beneficial ownership
A beneficial ownership is a trust arrangement whereby the beneficial owner of a security has the power to vote on and influence decisions regarding that security, and receives the benefit afforded by the security, even though in street name...