A Sole Proprietor Has No Property Separate from the Citizen
| Asset | General approach | Review |
|---|---|---|
| Stock | Realizable property | Inventory |
| Equipment | Valuation and sale | Title and security |
| Business account | Debtor’s money | Statements |
| Receivables | Property claim | Contracts and acts |
| Marital property | Debtor share may arise | Purchase date and source |
Inventory before filing
Quantity, condition and location should match records.
Separate third-party property
Lease, commission and custody require documents.
Avoid last-minute disposal
Price, counterparty and use of proceeds will be reviewed.
Business Use Does Not Guarantee Exclusion from the Estate
Article 213.25 includes citizen property, while Article 446 of the Civil Procedure Code provides limited immunities. Professional items follow value and functional tests, so an expensive machine, vehicle or retail equipment cannot automatically be retained as “necessary for work”. Security interests are treated separately. Marital property may be sold with proceeds distributed under special rules rather than simply ignoring one half. Use one chronology for every conclusion: proprietor status, debt creation, transaction, petition acceptance, bankruptcy judgment and completion. Business-register, insolvency-register, tax, bank and court records must relate to the specific event. A search result saying “bankrupt” does not show whether the court applied Article 216 consequences, so read the full operative order. Before filing, retain primary records, accounting exports and counterparty correspondence. Reconstructing data is harder after account restrictions or loss of access. Do not promise off-priority payment or backdate documents that did not exist; those steps weaken the evidence and may affect discharge.