Second Chance Act
A legal tool that allows you to cancel your debts and start over.
It is a legal mechanism that allows natural persons, self-employed individuals and small entrepreneurs cancel all or part of their debts and start over without financial burdens.
It is regulated in the Revised Text of the Bankruptcy Law, renovated by the Law 16/2022 to simplify the process.
They can do it:
Natural persons with unpayable debts.
Self-employed or small business owners in crisis.
Professionals who have closed their business or lost income.
👉 Key requirement: being debtor in good faith (no convictions for economic crimes in the last 10 years, not declared guilty in a joint trial, nor concealing assets or information).
Personal loans, credit cards, microcredits.
Debts with banks, financial institutions or private individuals.
Debts with the Treasury and Social Security.
📌 Recent Jurisprudence:
STS 450/2025 (March 20): It allows ordinary and subordinate public debts to be included in the exemption with a payment plan.
Auto 708/2025 (JM nº19 of Madrid, May 26): opens the door to cancel all public debt without the limit of €10,000, applying European regulations.
Until recently, there was a limit (10,000 € with the AEAT and 10,000 € with the TGSS).
With the Auto 708/2025, The judges can cancel all public debt by applying the principle of the primacy of EU law.
👉 This means that In 2025 it is more likely than ever to be free of the Treasury and Social Security.
In most cases, yes.
If you have no assets or income that can be seized, your bankruptcy proceedings are handled as follows: contest without mass.
This allows for a quick discharge, although not always of all public debt.
👉 Strategy: submit a symbolic payment plan to benefit from the most favorable judicial criteria (Auto 708/2025).
Massless competition: 4 to 6 months.
With payment plan: 12 to 36 months, According to what the judge approves.
Massive competition (with the liquidation of assets) resolution time 12 to 24 months
Final cancellation of debts.
End of embargos and executions.
Removal of files from defaulters (ASNEF, RAI).
Recovery of access to financing.
Peace and the real possibility of starting over.
The cancelled debts They don't reappear although it improves your situation.
👉 The “wipe and new account” is real and legal.
Yes. It is a technical insolvency procedure that requires legal strategy.
A specialist lawyer:
It increases the chances of canceling the public debt as well.
Avoid mistakes that can lead to denial.
It represents you before creditors and administrations.
Do you want to know if you can take advantage of the Second Chance Act?
👉 Tell me your case and I will give you a personalized response.