Chapter 7

Chapter 7

In the United States, a type of bankruptcy where a person's or company's assets are required to be liquidated. The court appoints a trustee, who may or may not be a part of the company, to oversee the liquidation process. If a company files for chapter 7, it ceases operations. The company's creditors receive the proceeds from liquidation according to the system of absolute priority; that is, secured creditors are paid first, then if anything is left unsecured creditors are paid, then preferred stockholders, and finally common stockholders. A company files for chapter 7 proceedings when its management believes that reorganizing according to a court-mandated plan would not result in the company becoming profitable.

---

Chapter 7

A bankruptcy option in which a bankrupt firm is liquidated after the courts have determined that reorganization is not worthwhile. A trustee is charged with liquidating all assets and distributing the proceeds to satisfy claims in their order of priority. In Chapter 7 bankruptcies the creditors often receive a fraction of the value of their claims and the stockholders receive nothing.