§ 90.011.Bankruptcy

A saving provision addressing the parallel compensation system.

Nothing in the chapter is intended to affect the rights of any party in a bankruptcy proceeding or affect the ability of any person to satisfy the claim criteria for compensable claims or demands under a trust established pursuant to a plan of reorganization under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code.

The two systems run on different criteria, and that is deliberate. Many asbestos defendants went bankrupt and reorganised, channelling their liability into trusts that pay claims under their own published schedules — which are generally less demanding than this chapter's medical requirements.

A claimant who cannot satisfy the criteria for a Texas lawsuit may still qualify for trust compensation, and this section confirms Texas law does not interfere with that.

It also reflects the limits of state authority. Trust criteria are set under federal bankruptcy plans, and a state statute could not alter them.

Subchapter B then approaches the trusts from the other direction. Ten years after this section, the Legislature required claimants to make trust claims and disclose them before trial — not to change what the trusts pay, but to ensure the tort defendants know what has been recovered elsewhere.