Bankruptcy Code
Bankruptcy is enabled by the United States Constitution, but its implementation is by statute. The relevant statutes are incorporated within the Bankruptcy Code, located at Title 11 of the United States Code, and amplified by state law in the many places where Federal law either fails to speak or defers expressly to state law.
While bankruptcy cases are always filed in United States Bankruptcy Court (an adjunct to the U.S. District Courts), bankruptcy cases, particularly with respect to the validity of claims and exemptions, are often highly dependent upon State law. State law therefore plays a major role in many bankruptcy cases, and it is often quite unwise to generalize bankruptcy issues across state lines.
The Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 made significant changes to the Code, effective as of October 17, 2005. This law makes it more difficult for consumers to erase debt by forcing more people to file under Chapter 13 bankruptcy rather than Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
History
The current Bankruptcy Code was enacted in 1978. It completely replaced the former Bankruptcy Act, which initially entered into force in 1898.