The payment plan is a fundamental mechanism designed to obtain the exoneration of unsatisfied liabilities by individual debtors protected by the bankruptcy law. This instrument offers an alternative route for financial recovery.
As provided for in article 486 of the consolidated text of the Insolvency Law ("TRLC") in Spain, the debtor who is a natural person may request the exoneration of the unsatisfied liability under the terms and conditions established in the law, provided that the debtor is in good faith, either subject to a payment plan with or without the prior liquidation of the assets.
Subsequently, the 2022 reform expanded the applicability of the payment plan to include a regime also applicable to insolvency proceedings without a estate, with supervening insufficiency of the active mass or those in which the liquidation has not been sufficient to meet the payment of the creditors' recognised claims, on the condition that, as mentioned, the debtor is in good faith and does not correspond to the exceptions included in article 487 of the TRLC.
With regard to the figure of the payment plan, what usually happens in practice is that they are mostly agreed in bankruptcy proceedings without a estate. However, the reality is that the analysis of the figure of the payment plan has not yet been deepened, although article 496 of the TRLC details for the first time the content of the payment plan and the 1st Chamber of the Supreme Court itself, prior to the entry into force of the modification of the TRLC, ruled on this in its Judgment number 295/2022 of 6 April, establishing certain considerations about the content of the payment plan while acknowledging that the law itself did not specify what a true payment plan consisted of, although the meaning of the terms used and the context of the expression and purpose made it possible to elucidate it.
Among the considerations mentioned by the Supreme Court is the determination of the concept of payment plan as the way in which the payment of obligations that cannot be affected by the exoneration will be made during the following five years, thus involving a real effort for the debtor. It also emphasized the need for the payment plan to be real and realistic, that is, that it be adjusted to what is right and what can actually be achieved, since they understood that it must be prepared according to what one can, and not what one wants. In the same way, it pointed out that the debtor's economic conditions must be clearly reflected together with the mandatory payment schedule.
That is why, in the light of the work that can be involved in the correct preparation of a payment plan and due to the legal indeterminacy that encompasses the matter, it is advisable to carry out a more in-depth legislative analysis on the subject. Along these lines, it should also be added that there are numerous cases in which payment plans are proposed as bankruptcy agreements, despite the obvious difference between them, which must be analysed, since, among others, the payment plan cannot be presented by a creditor, follows the line of imposition and not of negotiation of conditions with creditors and can alter the order of payments with the consent of the creditor. of creditors, in addition to having a more limited scope of affectation than the agreement.
In conclusion, the payment plan is presented as an essential tool for achieving the exoneration of unsatisfied liabilities, offering an opportunity for debtors in good faith to restructure their financial obligations in a viable and realistic manner. Its correct application, framed in a clear understanding of current legislation and jurisprudential guidelines, is decisive to ensure success on the road to a new economic stability.
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