Many entrepreneurs have encountered situations where their customer stopped paying invoices and later found out that the customer is in liquidation or, worse, already post-liquidation. However, the debtor's entry into liquidation does not necessarily mean that the creditor cannot enforce their claim. You can read about how to proceed when your debtor enters liquidation in our article.
If you need assistance with drafting an application for claim registration in liquidation or generally with enforcing your claimyou can contact us.
- How to proceed with liquidation of the company
- Dissolution of a company by the court – ex officio dissolution of a company
How can a creditor learn about liquidation?
Upon entering liquidation, the liquidator of the company is appointed by the partners or by the court.
The liquidator assumes the authority of the statutory body to act on behalf of the company. It is their duty to promptly notify all known creditors of the liquidated company about the company's entry into liquidation. However, we do not recommend relying on this. The liquidator may not have information about all creditors (e.g., if the debt is not properly recorded in the accounting), and intentional avoidance of fulfilling creditors' claims and efforts to achieve the fastest possible deletion of the company from the commercial register without satisfying creditors is also quite common.
The liquidator is also obliged to publish a notice of entry into liquidation and a call for creditors of the company and other affected persons and bodies to register their claims and other rights in the Commercial BulletinIn the Commercial Bulletin, you can search for your debtors by business name or company identification number (ICO).
If you want to learn about your business partner's entry into liquidation, we recommend regularly monitoring the Commercial Bulletin. Entry into liquidation can also be determined from the Commercial Registeras the liquidator is recorded in the Commercial Register, as well as the change in the company's name, since companies in the liquidation process add the suffix "in liquidation" to their name.
Where to submit the application for claim registration in liquidation?
In the Commercial Bulletin, the liquidator will also provide the address for claim registration and the name of the person with whom creditors can register their claims.
We recommend sending the application to the provided address by registered mail with a return receipt.
Requirements of the application
The application for claim registration in liquidation, unlike the application for claim registration in bankruptcy or restructuring, does not have a legally prescribed form. However, we recommend including the following information:
- Identification of the creditor,
- Identification of the debtor,
- Definition of the claim (e.g., monetary amount, non-monetary claim, etc.),
- Reason for the claim (e.g., unpaid invoice, unreturned loan),
- Attachments can include documents proving the validity of the claim (e.g., loan agreement, goods delivery agreement, delivery note, invoice, etc.),
- power of attorney (if submits is done by your advokát)
Beware of the debtor's entry into bankruptcy
If the liquidator discovers the company's over-indebtedness during liquidation, they are obliged to promptly file a petition for bankruptcy declaration, unless bankruptcy proceedings or bankruptcy against the company have already been terminated due to lack of assets.
If bankruptcy proceedings are initiated, the claim must be registered in the bankruptcy.
We will gladly register the claim in bankruptcy for you
Satisfying Claims
The liquidator satisfies the claims of the company's creditors on an ongoing basis. If a known creditor does not register their claim in liquidation and the claim cannot be fulfilled otherwise, the liquidator deposits the monetary fulfillment for the creditor's costs into a notary's custody. The same procedure applies if the creditor refuses the necessary cooperation for fulfilling the obligation.
On the day of liquidation completion, but no earlier than six months after the notice of the company's entry into liquidation, the liquidator prepares the financial statements, the final report on the liquidation process, and the proposal for the distribution of the liquidation balance. The notice of the preparation of the financial statements, the final report on the liquidation process, and the proposal for the distribution of the liquidation balance (notice of liquidation completion) is promptly published by the liquidator.
Additional liquidation
There is a certain chance of enforcing the claim even if the company has already been deleted from the Commercial Register. If the company was deleted from the Commercial Register without a legal successor and if assets of the company are discovered that should have been subject to liquidation or bankruptcy, the court, upon the proposal of a person who demonstrates a legal interest in ordering additional liquidation, decides to order additional liquidation of the company's assets and appoints a liquidator for that purpose.
Unsettled claims or other rights against the company that existed at the time of the company's dissolution are revived by the court's decision to order additional liquidation and appoint a liquidator. During the period when the company was deleted from the Commercial Register, the statute of limitations does not run. After ordering additional liquidation and restoring the company's registration in the Commercial Register, the statute of limitations is not shorter than one year from the order of additional liquidation.
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