Legal regime of credits against the insolvency estate

Abstract

Credits against the insolvency estate are those generated during the insolvency proceedings themselves and, where applicable, by the continuation of business activity, and are set out in Article 242.1 of the Consolidated Text of the Insolvency Law. They are governed by a different legal regime than that applicable to insolvency claims, which is mainly set out in Articles 244 to 250 of the Consolidated Text of the Insolvency Law, approved by Royal Legislative Decree 1/2020, of May 5 (hereinafter, TRLC). This article analyzes the legal nature of these claims, their recognition by the insolvency administrator outside the list of creditors, the rules governing their payment, and their enforcement once the agreement is effective (the only scenario in which independent enforcement of these claims before the bankruptcy court is possible); the impact of the opening of the liquidation procedure (i.e., its possible early maturity) and the particularities in case of insufficient assets, especially in case of supervening insufficiency of the same to cover the payment of claims against the bankruptcy estate.