Title 7 — Judiciary and Civil Procedure

The provisions of this Part shall be known and may he cited as The Insolvency Law and in accordance with its provisions every insolvent debtor may be permitted to suspend payments or be discharged from his debt and liabilities. SOURCE: CCP 1280. This entire part was enacted in 19…

The Superior Court shall have original jurisdiction in hearing and determining all causes, actions, and proceedings under this Part. COL120106 SOURCE: CCP § 1281. Superior Court inserted in place of Island Court pursuant to P.L. 12-85 and Part in place of Title to conform to the …

Filed. Any debtor who, possessing sufficient property to cover all his debts, be it an individual person, an association, or corporation, foresees the impossibility of meeting them when they respectively fall due, may petition that he be declared by the court in the state of susp…

Debtor. Upon receiving and filing the petition with the schedule and documents mentioned in the next preceding section, the court shall make an order calling a meeting of creditors to take place in not less than two (2) weeks COL120106 nor more than three (3) months from the date…

A copy of said order shall immediately be published by the clerk of the court, in the manner designated therein, for the number of times and in the form prescribed by the court, and the clerk shall cause a copy of said order to be delivered personally or to be sent forthwith by r…

If any execution be pending against the debtor it shall not be consolidated with this proceeding, but the course thereof shall be suspended before sale of property is made thereunder, provided the debtor makes a request therefor to the court before which the proceeding for suspen…

Creditors may be represented at the meeting by one or more lawyers, or by any person duly authorized by power of attorney, which document shall be presented and be attached to the record. Persons appearing for more than one creditor shall have only one personal vote, but the clai…

Only creditors included in the schedule filed by the debtor shall be cited to appear and take part in the meeting mentioned in § 50051, and they shall be notified upon delivery or transmission to them of a copy of the order calling the meeting, to appear at the meeting with the w…

Persons having claims for personal labor, maintenance, expenses of last illness and funeral, of the wife or children of the debtor, incurred in the sixty (60) days immediately preceding the filing of the petition, and the persons having legal or contractual mortgages, may refrain…

The proposed agreement shall be deemed rejected if the number of creditors required for holding a meeting does not voluntarily attend thereat, COL120106 or if the two majorities mentioned in § 50055(e) are not in favor thereof, even if the negative vote itself does not receive su…

If the decision of the meeting be negative as regards the proposed agreement or if no decision is had in default of such number or of such majorities, the proceedings shall be terminated without recourse and the parties concerned shall be at liberty to enforce the rights which ma…

The causes for which objection may be made to the decision of the meeting shall be: COL120106 (a) Defects in the call for the meeting, in the holding thereof, and in the deliberations had thereat which prejudice the rights of the creditors; (b) Fraudulent connivance between one o…

If the debtor fails wholly or in part to perform the agreement decided upon at the meeting of the creditors, all the rights which the creditors had against the debtor before the agreement shall revest in them. In such case the debtor may be made subject to the bankruptcy and inso…

An insolvent debtor, owing debts exceeding in amount the sum of One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00), may apply to be discharged from his debts and liabilities by petition to the Superior Court, Guam. In his petition he shall set forth his place of residence, the period of his reside…

Said schedule must contain a full and true statement of all his debts and liabilities, together with a list of all those to whom, to the best of his knowledge and belief, said debts or liabilities are due, the places of residence of his creditors and the sum due each, the nature …

The inventory must contain, besides the creditors, an accurate description of all the real and personal property, estate, and effects of the petitioner, including his homestead, if any, together with a statement of the value of each item of said property, estate, and effects and …

The petition, schedule, and inventory must be verified by the affidavit of the petitioner, annexed thereto, and shall be in form substantially as follows: "I, ____________________, do solemnly swear that the schedule and inventory now delivered by me contain a full, correct, and …

Upon receiving and filing said petition, schedule, and inventory, the court shall make an order declaring the petitioner insolvent, and directing a commissioner of a district to take possession of, and safely keep, until the appointment of a receiver or assignee, all the deeds, v…

A copy of the court's order shall immediately be published by the clerk of said court, for the number of times and for such periods as prescribed by the court. A copy of said order shall be delivered personally or sent by the clerk forthwith by registered mail, postage prepaid, t…

An adjudication of insolvency may be made on the petition of two or more creditors, and the amount of which credits or demands are in the aggregate not less than one thousand dollars ($1,000.00); provided, that none of said creditors has become a creditor by assignment, however m…

The said petition shall be accompanied by an undertaking, approved by the court, with at least two (2) sureties, in such penal sum as the court shall direct, conditioned that if the petition in insolvency be dismissed by the court, or withdrawn by the petitioner, or if the debtor…

Upon the filing of such creditors' petition, the court shall issue an order requiring such debtor to show cause, at a time and place to be fixed by said court, why he should not be adjudged an insolvent debtor; and at the same time, or thereafter, upon good cause shown therefor, …

A copy of the petition, with a copy of the order to show cause, shall be served on the debtor' in the same manner as is provided by law for the COL120106 service of summons in civil actions, but such service shall be made at least five (5) days before the time fixed for the heari…

At the time fixed for the hearing of said order to show cause, or at another time to which such hearing may be adjourned, the debtor must answer the petition, or may file motions do dismiss for the same causes as are provided for such motions as in other proceedings. If the motio…

Debtor. Appointment of an Assignee or Receiver. If the respondent shall make default, or if, after trial, the issues are found in favor of the petitioners, the court shall make an order adjudging that said respondent is, and was at the time of filing the petition, an insolvent de…

A copy of the order provided for in the last preceding section shall immediately be published by the clerk of the court in the usual manner for the number of times and as prescribed by the court. Upon the filing, at any time before the date set for such meeting, of the schedule r…

Undertaking Required . In all cases where the debtor resides out of Guam; or has departed from Guam; or cannot, after due diligence, be found within Guam; or conceals himself to avoid service of the order to show cause, or any other preliminary process or orders in the matter; or…

In all cases where property is taken into custody by the commissioner, as provided in the preceding section, if it does not embrace all the property and effects of the debtor not exempt from execution, any other creditor or creditors of the debtor, upon giving bond to be approved…

If, in any case, proper affidavits and bonds are presented to the court asking for and obtaining an order of publication and an order for the custody of the property of the debtor, as provided in § 50157 and § 50158 of this Article, and thereafter the petitioners shall make it ap…

to Vote. No creditor shall be entitled to vote for the election of an assignee unless he shall have filed his claim in the office of the clerk of the court at least two (2) days prior to the time appointed for such election. All claims shall contain a statement showing the amount…

At a meeting of the creditors in open court, or if the court is not in session, in the presence of the judge or the clerk of court, those being entitled to vote, as provided by the preceding section, shall proceed to the election of an assignee. The majority of the creditors who …

If, on the day appointed for the meeting, creditors do not attend, or fail or refuse to elect an assignee, or if, after election, the assignee shall fail to qualify within the proper time, or if a vacancy occurs by death or otherwise, the court shall appoint an assignee and fix t…

As soon as the assignee is elected or appointed and qualified, the clerk of the court shall, by an instrument under seal of the court, assign and convey to the assignee all the real and personal property, estate, and effects of the debtor with all his deeds, books, and papers rel…

The assignee shall have the right to recover all the estate, debts, and effects of said insolvent. If, at the time of the commencement of proceedings in insolvency, an action is pending in the name of the debtor, COL120106 for the recovery of a debt or other thing which might or …

The assignee shall, within one (1) month after the making of the assignment to him, cause the same to be recorded in the registry of lands, etc., and the record of such assignment, or a duly certified copy thereof, shall be conclusive evidence thereof in all courts. If the schedu…

Any assignee may at any time, by a writing filed in court, resign his appointment, having first settled his accounts and delivered all the deeds, vouchers, books of account, notes, bills, bonds, and securities of the debtor and all his real and personal property, estate, and effe…

The said assignee shall have power: 1. To sue and recover all the estate, assets, debts, and claims, belonging to or due to such debtor; and no set-off or counterclaim shall be allowed in any such suit for debts contracted by the insolvent within thirty (30) days immediately prec…

If any person, before the assignment is made, having notice of the commencement of the proceedings in insolvency, or having reason to believe that insolvency proceedings are about to be commenced, embezzles or disposes of any of the moneys, goods, chattels, or effects of the inso…

The assignee shall as speedily as possible convert the estate, real and personal, into money. He shall keep a regular account of all moneys received by him as assignee, to which every creditor or other person interested therein may, at all reasonable times, have access. No privat…

In all cases when it appears to the satisfaction of the court that the estate of the debtor, or any part thereof, is of a perishable nature, or is liable to deteriorate in value, or is disproportionately expensive to keep, and that the insolvent's estate will suffer if sufficient…

Outstanding debts, or other property due or belonging to the estate, which cannot be collected and received by the assignee without reasonable or inconvenient delay or expense, may be sold and assigned in like manner as the remainder of the estate. If there are any rights of acti…

Assignees shall be allowed all necessary expenses in the care, management, and settlement of the estate, and shall be entitled to charge and receive for their services commissions upon all sums of money coming to their hands and accounted for by them, as follows: For the first on…

At the expiration of three (3) months from the appointment of the assignee in any case, or as much earlier as the court may direct, a time and place shall be fixed by the court at which the assignee shall file just and true COL120106 accounts of all his receipts and payments with…

The court may at any time, upon the motion of any two or more creditors, require the assignee to file his accounts in the manner and upon COL120106 giving the notice specified in the preceding section, and if he has funds subject to distribution he may be required to distribute t…

Whenever a dividend has been duly declared, the distribution of it shall not be stayed or affected by reason of debts being subsequently proved, but any creditor proving such a debt shall be entitled to a dividend equal to those already received by the other creditors before any …

Should the assignee refuse or neglect to render his accounts as required by § 50213 and § 50214 of this Chapter, or refuse or neglect to pay over a dividend when he shall have, in the opinion of the court, sufficient funds for that purpose, or shall neglect or mismanage the estat…

Preparatory to the settlement of the estate, the assignee shall file his final account in the court, accompanying the same with an affidavit that a notice by registered mail has been given to all creditors who have proved their claims, that he will apply for a settlement of his a…

Merchandise, effects, and any other kind of property found among the property of the insolvent, the ownership of which has not been conveyed to him by a legal and irrevocable title, shall be considered to be the property of other persons and shall be placed at the disposal of its…

All creditors, except those whose claims are mentioned in the next following section, whose debts are duly proved and allowed, shall be entitled to share in the property and estate pro rata, after the property belonging to other persons referred to in the last preceding section h…

The following shall be preferred claims which shall be paid in the order named: (a) Legal expenses, and expenses incurred in the administration of the insolvent's estate for the common interest of the creditors, when properly authorized and approved by the court; (b) Necessary fu…