Constitutional Basis for Bankruptcy Laws

By M. Jonathan Hayes.  Certified bankruptcy specialist from Northridge, CA, and focuses his practice on bankruptcy, insolvency and general civil litigation.


Article One, Section 8 entitled, “Powers of Congress,” provides that “Congress shall have Power. . . [t]o establish uniform laws upon the subject of bankruptcies.”

Article One, Section 10 entitled, “Powers Prohibited of the States,” provides that “No State shall . . . pass any . . . Law impairing the Obligations of Contract.”
A Brief Statutory History of American Bankruptcy Laws
The government formed by our constitution began on March 4, 1789.  At that time, many of the states had “insolvency . . .

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