cessio bonorum

cessio bonorum

in the Scots law of insolvency, an older form of bankruptcy that did not give the debtor a discharge but allowed him to be released from civil imprisonment on giving up all his property

Collins Dictionary of Law © W.J. Stewart, 2006

CESSIO BONORUM, civil law. The relinquishment which a debtor made of his property for the benefit of his creditors.
     2. This exempted the debtor from imprisonment, not, however, without leaving an ignominious stain on his reputation. Dig. 2, 4, 25; Id. 48, 19, 1; Nov. 4, c. 3, and Nov. 135. By the latter Novel, an honest unfortunate debtor might be discharged, by simply affirming that he was insolvent, without having recourse to the benefit of cession. By the cession the creditors acquired title to all the property of the insolvent debtor.
     3. The cession discharged the debtor only to the extent of the property ceded, and he remained responsible for the difference. Dom. Lois Civ. liv. 4, tit. 5., s. 1, n. 2. Vide, for the law of Louisiana, Code, art. 2166, et seq. 2 M. R. 112; 2 L. R. 354; 11 L. R. 531; 5 N. S. 299; 2 L. R. 39; 2 N. S. 108; 3 M. R. 232; 4 Wheat. 122; and Abandonment.

A Law Dictionary, Adapted to the Constitution and Laws of the United States. By John Bouvier. Published 1856.