Business Bankruptcy Law Firm with Experienced Attorneys Serving Charlotte, NC

Explore Our Bankruptcy Services for Charlotte Businesses

If your Charlotte, NC company is struggling to pay employees and creditors on time, bankruptcy helps you take the final steps to either close your business or restructure. Our team of expert bankruptcy attorneys helps with this. We answer your bankruptcy questions, guide you through the process, and fight for fair payment terms.

We specialize in Chapter 7, 11, and 12 bankruptcies, business restructuring, and creditor negotiations. Small business owners receive much-needed guidance to determine the next steps. Bankruptcy is one option, but there are several types of bankruptcies available to small businesses.

With more than 70 years of combined experience in bankruptcy law in North Carolina, Ivey McClellan offers the expertise you need when making tough decisions regarding your small business. 

Understand the Four Key Types of Bankruptcy Available to Small Businesses

When your small business has more debt than revenue, bankruptcy helps you resolve your financial obligations and arranges steps to closing your small business. Depending on the type of bankruptcy, you could reorganize and build a stronger business with a second chance. Understand the four types of bankruptcies available to North Carolinians.

Chapter 7 Bankruptcy

For North Carolina businesses that are liquidating assets and shutting down, a Chapter 7 bankruptcy is best. This is the right choice if your small business’s debts are so great that restructuring and negotiating repayments with creditors isn’t possible.

With a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, the court assigns a trustee to inventory your assets and business. They take possession of assets and sell them. The money raised goes to your creditors. At that point, your debt is discharged.

Most small businesses qualify for Chapter 7. The two exceptions are corporations and partnerships.

Chapter 11 Bankruptcy

A Chapter 11 bankruptcy allows you to reorganize and negotiate with your creditors. It’s a good choice if your North Carolina business is salvageable but just needs a helping hand to get debt resolved. 

The court chooses a trustee, which could be the business owner, to build a plan for paying creditors while keeping the business going. Debt restructuring plans may extend for decades, but there is a plan for how debt will be paid off. Submit that plan to your creditors for approval. If your creditors agree, the bankruptcy court approves the plan. If they don’t, negotiations continue. An NC attorney skilled in small business bankruptcies helps you negotiate fair repayment terms.

Chapter 12 Bankruptcy

The lesser-known Chapter 12 bankruptcy (agriculture bankruptcy) is ideal for small businesses focused on farming and fishing. As farming and fishing are seasonal businesses, it can be harder to keep them profitable. They’re also part-time businesses, and that makes it hard to qualify for other types of bankruptcy. 

With a Chapter 12 bankruptcy, business owners are given several years to pay back creditors. The repayment amount is similar to the reduced payments that creditors typically receive under Chapter 7. It helps creditors recover some of the money they’re owed, and it discharges the rest of the debt to allow you to get out of debt.