proof of debt

Which translation, when

Why

Proving a debt in an English insolvency and the German Forderungsanmeldung do the same job, but the German process is a formal chain with a sharper edge at the end. Under § 174 InsO the creditor must lodge the claim in writing with the Insolvenzverwalter, stating its amount and its ground, and it is then entered on the Insolvenztabelle, § 175 InsO. At the Prüfungstermin the claims are gone through one by one, and the Verwalter or any other creditor may bestreiten, dispute, a claim, § 176 InsO. The consequence of getting through unchallenged is significant. Within the proceedings the unchallenged entry has, under § 178 Abs. 3 InsO, the effect of a rechtskräftiges Urteil against the Insolvenzverwalter and all other creditors, fixing the claim in the distribution, and after the proceedings close it becomes an enforceable title against the debtor personally, § 201 Abs. 2 InsO, provided the debtor did not object to it at the Prüfungstermin, so the table entry is far more than a mere admission. Where a claim is disputed the creditor cannot simply argue it in the meeting, he must bring a Feststellungsklage to have it established, § 179 InsO. Two further points, subordinated creditors file only when the court invites them, § 174 Abs. 3 InsO, and a secured creditor lodges only for any shortfall, since the security is realised separately. So Forderungsanmeldung is not just handing in a proof, it starts a process whose quiet result is a judgment-strength entry.

Typical mistakes

• The claim must be lodged in writing with the Insolvenzverwalter and entered on the Insolvenztabelle, § 174 and § 175 InsO, so an informal notification is not a Forderungsanmeldung.
• An unchallenged registered claim takes the force of a final judgment against the Insolvenzverwalter and the other creditors, § 178 Abs. 3 InsO, and after the proceedings an enforceable title against the debtor if he did not object, § 201 Abs. 2 InsO, a stronger effect than an admitted English proof.
• A disputed claim is not re-argued in the meeting but pursued by a Feststellungsklage, § 179 InsO, and subordinated creditors file only when the court invites them, § 174 Abs. 3 InsO.

What matters

Filing a client’s claim in a German insolvency meets a formal chain: the Forderungsanmeldung goes in writing to the Insolvenzverwalter, § 174 InsO, enters the Insolvenztabelle, and gains judgment-strength if unchallenged, § 178 Abs. 3 InsO. The creditor who treated it as an informal proof risks missing the form, or the significance, an unchallenged entry standing as a binding title, a disputed one needing a Feststellungsklage.

Examples