The Meaning of ‘I Go Bankrupt’: An Essay in Forensic Linguistics

The principal objective of an individual’s filing a petition with a US bankruptcy court is to discharge his personal liabilities. As an essential part of this process, the debtor must also file a detailed schedule of his creditors by name and last known address and the amount of each creditor’s claim (the ‘debtor’s schedule’) when he files his petition. Within a few days, the clerk of the court then sends a formal notice of the filing of the bankruptcy case to each creditor on the debtor’s schedule. The notice also advises each creditor that if she wishes to preclude her claim from being discharged — assuming that the claim is based upon fraud — she must file a timely complaint for a determination of dischargeability (a ‘dischargeability complaint’). If, however, the debtor fails to schedule the creditor, then that creditor’s claim cannot be discharged. There is an important back-door exception to this rule: if the unscheduled creditor gets notice or acquires actual knowledge, by whatever informal means (‘actual notice’), of the debtor’s case in time to file a dischargeability complaint, and the creditor fails to satisfy the deadline, then her claim is also discharged.