Clarify the recipient’s role first
Identify the account holder, economic recipient, contracting parties and any trust or group relationship. Without that allocation, it is unclear which claim the payment satisfied.
Creditors
Payment received from a company in crisis: avoidance documents
Payment received before insolvency: document the recipient role, consideration, contemporary knowledge and administrator’s demand.
Your insolvency law team
BRANDAUER Rechtsanwälte
Insolvency law, Salzburg and throughout Austria
We review the procedural status, contracts, payment records and security, then explain which legal question needs to be addressed next.
13 July 2026, Mag. Bernhard Brandauer, Rechtsanwalt
You received a payment from a company that later entered insolvency proceedings. The payment date alone does not answer an avoidance claim. Each transaction must be traced through the recipient’s role, the basis of the claim, the consideration provided and the information available at the time.
Section 27 of the Austrian Insolvency Code provides the starting point for insolvency avoidance. Section 31 covers specified acts after the onset of inability to pay or after an application to open insolvency proceedings. A later insolvency or one isolated warning sign does not establish all statutory requirements.
Secure the bank record, contract, invoice, evidence of performance and contemporary correspondence. If the insolvency administrator has already written to you, retain the complete letter, all attachments and proof of service.
Initial file review
Which evidence is missing for an initial avoidance review?
This check separates the payment, consideration and contemporary knowledge. It does not decide whether a claim exists.
Discuss the specific matter with the firm.
Did you receive the payment as the contracting party?
Your answers
Review the documents
Evidence consideration transaction by transaction
Match the payment with the contract, specific goods or services, invoice, due date and any credits. Do not conceal separate payments in one aggregated account.
Reconstruct information available at the time
Preserve communications created before and around the payment. The issue is not hindsight, but what was then known or ought to have been known about inability to pay or an application to open proceedings.
Prepare the file for legal review
The core record is organised. Each payment can now be assessed against the relevant avoidance ground, the recipient relationship and the procedural position. The check does not provide a risk score.
Record the recipient’s role and payment route
Record the recipient’s role and payment route
For each payment, record the sending account, receiving account, value date, amount and reference. Establish whether you were the contracting party, collected for another person or transferred the money onwards. Trust arrangements, group settlements and assignments require their underlying agreements.
The recipient’s role affects which claim was satisfied and who must answer a later demand. A bank entry without its contractual context is not enough.
Match the claim basis with the consideration
Match the claim basis with the consideration
Link each payment to the order, contract, invoice and due date. Then prove the consideration with delivery notes, service records, acceptance documents, time records or other appropriate evidence. Include cancellations, credits, defect notices and set-off.
This shows whether the company discharged a due claim, provided security or entered another transaction. Section 31 distinguishes satisfaction or security obtained by an insolvency creditor from transactions detrimental to creditors. The payment and its economic basis must therefore remain separately readable.
Reconstruct knowledge from contemporary records
Reconstruct knowledge from contemporary records
For section 31, it may matter whether inability to pay or the application to open proceedings was known or ought to have been known. Collect contemporary records only: reminders, instalment arrangements, payment promises, returned payments, emails, meeting notes, public notices and internal approvals.
A financial statement obtained later or the eventual opening of proceedings must not silently be projected back into the earlier state of knowledge. Equally, relevant warning signs should not be omitted. A reliable chronology contains facts that support both sides of the assessment.
Review the administrator’s demand precisely
Review the administrator’s demand precisely
Identify the exact payment, amount and legal basis asserted. Compare every date with the bank records and accounting system. Preserve the complete demand, attachments, envelope or electronic service record and all subsequent correspondence.
Separate evidence preservation from the legal response. Do not admit the claim or make repayment merely because the request is broadly worded. Court service and procedural dates must nevertheless be reviewed immediately for the individual case.
Statutory sources and further guidance
Statutory sources and further guidance
The statutory starting point is section 27 IO in the Austrian Legal Information System. Section 31 IO addresses specified acts after the onset of inability to pay or an application to open proceedings.
For a broader German-language explanation, read Insolvency avoidance in Austria when an administrator seeks repayment. The specific ground, complete evidence and current procedural position remain decisive.
FAQ
Questions after receiving a crisis payment
Must every payment before insolvency be repaid? +
No. A later insolvency does not automatically make an earlier payment avoidable. A specific statutory ground and the circumstances at the time must be established.
Why does the consideration matter? +
It identifies the contractual and economic reason for the payment. Contract, invoice, due date and actual performance support the correct legal classification.
What should I do first after receiving a demand? +
Secure the demand, attachments and service record. Reconcile the amount and date, then compile the contract, consideration and contemporary communications.
Continue the review
Assess avoidance and complete the evidence
Topics
AvoidanceInsolvency lawPayment recipientConsideration
Would you like us to review a claim, owned goods or a decision in a business crisis?
Tell us your role, the business concerned and the procedural status. We respond within one business day.
Direct line to the firm.
Address
BRANDAUER Rechtsanwälte GmbH Giselakai 51 5020 Salzburg
Phone
+43 662 6280000