Practice Area
Insolvency law regulates the distribution of a debtor's assets when they are unable to meet their financial obligations. Governed by the Insolvency Act 24 of 1936, this process ensures that creditors are treated according to a legal hierarchy of preference.
Insolvency Act 24 of 1936
Ordered. Preferential. Properly administered.
Overview
Our insolvency practice guides debtors, creditors, trustees and liquidators through the statutory machinery that governs financial failure. From the first application for sequestration through to the final rehabilitation order, we ensure every step complies with the Insolvency Act and serves our client's strategic objective.
Creditor Preference Hierarchy
Assets distributed in accordance with the statutory order of secured, preferent and concurrent creditors.
Trustee & Liquidator Support
Legal counsel to appointed trustees and liquidators on asset realisation and impeachable transactions.
Rehabilitation Pathway
Applications restoring the insolvent's legal capacity and discharging residual liabilities.
What we deliver
From voluntary surrender applications on behalf of over-indebted individuals through corporate liquidations and the administration of complex estates, we handle the full procedural and substantive work that insolvency matters demand.
Assisting individuals in applying for voluntary surrender of their estate, or representing creditors in applying for compulsory sequestration, demonstrating that sequestration will result in a dividend for creditors.
Winding up of companies through a voluntary resolution of the shareholders or a court-ordered compulsory liquidation, including the appointment of a liquidator to realise assets and settle liabilities.
Acting as legal counsel to trustees or liquidators, identifying voidable preferences which are payments made to certain creditors shortly before insolvency that may be recovered.
Applications for rehabilitation, the legal process that discharges the insolvent person from their estate and restores their legal capacity to contract.
Investigation and setting aside of dispositions without value, voidable preferences and collusive transactions under the Insolvency Act.
Advising on the intersection of business rescue under the Companies Act with insolvency proceedings, and transition strategies where rescue is no longer viable.
Need guidance?
Statutory framework
The Insolvency Act 24 of 1936 remains the cornerstone statute of South African insolvency law, applied in conjunction with the Companies Act for corporate matters and the Magistrates' Courts Act for smaller estates.
Insolvency Act 24 of 1936
The Act establishes the concursus creditorum, being the collective concurrence of creditors, and regulates every aspect of the administration of an insolvent estate from sequestration to final distribution.
Corporate & Cross-Border
Corporate insolvency and business rescue are regulated by the Companies Act 71 of 2008. Cross-border insolvency raises additional considerations under the Cross-Border Insolvency Act.
Facing insolvency?
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