Legal Information Center
Featured Content
Legal Research Center
Law Practice Management
Law Firm Marketing
Find An Attorney By Practice Area
[Old French dette, ultimately from Latin debita, plural of debitum debt, from neuter of debitus, past participle of debere to owe]
1:something owed: as
a:a specific sum of money or a performance due another esp. by agreement (as a loan agreement) to pay the ⁓s…of the United States U.S. Constitution art. Ia ⁓ for alimony
b:an obligation to pay or perform on another's claim discharged the ⁓
It is often up to the courts to decide what is or is not a debt under various laws. Courts disagree whether criminal restitution is a debt under the Bankruptcy Code. The historical practice of imprisoning debtors for nonpayment is no longer used.:debt that is incurred prior to a property transfer paying or securing the debt
compare preference
:a debt that cannot be collected An income tax deduction is allowed for bad debts.
:debt that is incurred by an individual primarily for the purchase of consumer goods or services
compare consumer credit
:a debt established by a judgment and enforceable by a legal process (as an execution of judgment or attachment)
:a state of owing in ⁓
d:the aggregate of money owed the national ⁓
2:the common-law action for the recovery of a specified sum of money or a sum that can be simply and certainly determined called also action of debtwrit of debt
