The ABCs of Debt A Case Study Approach to Debtor/Creditor Relations and Bankruptcy Law [Connected eBook]

by Parsons, Stephen P.

• ISBN13: 9798894101439
• ISBN10: 8894101436
• Edition: 7th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2025-09-15
• Publisher: Aspen Publishing

Summary

Buy a new version of this textbook and receive access to the Connected eBook on Casebook Connect, including lifetime access to the online ebook with highlight, annotation, and search capabilities. Access also includes an outline tool and other helpful resources. Connected eBooks provide what you need most to be successful in your law school classes.

Stephen Parsons’ The ABCs of Debt provides the most practical, realistic, and comprehensive tools for today’s students to study and master debtor/creditor relations and the bankruptcy process.

The ABCs of Debt is unsurpassed in the foundation it lays for students regarding the creation and collection of secured and unsecured debt by both judicial and nonjudicial means. The text then leads them in a practical and realistic manner through Chapter 7, Chapter 13, and Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases in the actual way those cases begin, unfold, and ultimately play out in the offices of attorneys for debtors and creditors and bankruptcy trustees. The use of realistic and thorough case studies throughout the text forms a hands-on approach that bridges the gap between merely understanding debtor/creditor and bankruptcy concepts and knowing how to use them with confidence. Applying the Law exercises and optional drafting exercises develop the practical skills and working knowledge paralegals need.

New to the Seventh Edition:

• A new Supplemental Materials feature appearing throughout the text provides supplementary material on numerous topics.
• Coverage of four U.S. Supreme Court cases decided since the last edition as well as numerous circuit and district court opinions.
• Consideration of new legal issues being raised by the Subchapter V proceeding for the small business debtor created as an alternative Chapter 11 proceeding by Congress in 2019.
• Updated Case Studies for Chapter 7, Chapter 13, and Chapter 11 proceedings.
  Freshened Examples and Hypotheticals throughout the text.

Professors and students will benefit from:

• Realistic case studies that add a strong skill-building component to any study of bankruptcy law.
• Problem-Hypotheticals where students apply points made in the text to realistic situations.
• A sequential organization of bankruptcy topics that mirrors practice.
• Ethical Considerations that showcase relevant ethical or professional challenges presented by the topic under discussion.
• Highlighted case excerpts accompanied by Applying the Law exercises that link doctrine to practice.
• ​Optional drafting exercises using hypothetical cases under Chapters 7, 11, and 13
• Supplemental Materials feature provides students with opportunities to learn more about topics that interest them and enriches classroom discussions.
• Engaging and informative text boxes.
• Key Concepts at the start of each chapter.
• Chapter summaries, review questions, and sample forms.

Table of Contents

SUMMARY OF CONTENTS

Contents 
Preface 

Chapter One: Introduction to Debtor/ Creditor Law
and the Case Study Approach 

Part A: The Creation and Collection of Debt Prior to Bankruptcy 
Chapter Two: Secured and Unsecured Debt 
Chapter Three: Nonconsensual Liens on the Debtor’s Property 
Chapter Four: Nonjudicial Debt Collection 
Chapter Five: The Judicial Collection Process and Execution on a Final Judgment 

Part B: Consumer Bankruptcy 
Chapter Six: Introduction to Bankruptcy 
Chapter Seven: The Chapter 7 Consumer Bankruptcy Case — The Means Test and Other Qualifications to File 
Chapter Eight: The Chapter 7 Consumer Bankruptcy Case — The Petition, Supporting Schedules, and Statements 
Chapter Nine: The Chapter 7 Consumer Bankruptcy Case — The Order for Relief, Bankruptcy Trustee, First Meeting of Creditors, and Automatic Stay 
Chapter Ten: The Chapter 7 Consumer Bankruptcy Case — Creditor Claims and Property of the Estate 
Chapter Eleven: The Chapter 7 Consumer Bankruptcy Case — Liquidation, Distribution, and
the Debtor’s Right to Retain Possession of Property 
Chapter Twelve: The Chapter 7 Consumer Bankruptcy Case — Nondischargeable Debts, Objections to Discharge, Dismissal or Conversion, and the Final Discharge 
Chapter Thirteen: The Chapter 13 Debt Adjustment for
an Individual with Regular Income — Filing the Case
Chapter Fourteen: The Chapter 13 Debt Adjustment for an Individual with Regular Income — Determining the Applicable Commitment Period and Debtor’s Disposable Income 
Chapter Fifteen: The Chapter 13 Debt Adjustment for an Individual with Regular Income — Treatment of Priority, Secured, and Unsecured Claims in the Plan 
Chapter Sixteen: The Chapter 13 Debt Adjustment for an Individual with Regular Income — Plan Confirmation, Modification, and Discharge 

Part C: The Business Bankruptcy Case 
Chapter Seventeen: The Chapter 11 Business Reorganization — Filing the Case
Chapter Eighteen: The Chapter 11 Business Reorganization — Operating the
Business Prior to Plan Approval 
Chapter Nineteen: The Chapter 11 Business Reorganization — The Plan of Reorganization 
Chapter Twenty: Bankruptcy Under Chapter 12,
Chapter 9, and Chapter 15 of the Code

Appendix A: In re Marta Rinaldi Carlson Chapter 7 Bankruptcy 
Appendix B: In re Roger H. and Susan J. Matthews Chapter 13 Bankruptcy
Appendix C: In re Banowsky Brothers Furniture, Inc., Chapter 11 Bankruptcy 

Glossary 
Table of Cases 
Index