Creditor

What creditor means

Put simply, creditor is part of the working vocabulary of a civil case. The short definition above covers the usual meaning. Still, a specific rule, statute or contract can give it a narrower meaning. For that reason, check how it is used in your own documents.

Where creditor comes up

The term is used across many kinds of cases. For example, you may see it in pleadings, motions and court orders. To see it in context, browse the motions and procedures library or the Learn the Law topics.

How to research the term

First, read the term where it actually appears. A rule, statute or court decision may define it for its own purposes. Next, check whether your court has a local rule that uses creditor in a special way. Then look at recent decisions from courts in your jurisdiction. They show how judges apply the term today. Also, remember that state law can differ from federal law. For that reason, use our state procedures guide to find your state’s rules. Finally, confirm every source is current before you rely on it.

You can read the current federal court rules online for free.

Related legal terms

• Court Registry Investment System: the program, administered by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, through which federal courts invest money deposited into a court's registry, for example under Fed. R. Civ. P. 67 and 28 U.S.C. § 2041. Money in the registry may be withdrawn only by order of the court (28 U.S.C. § 2042). Abbreviated CRIS.
• Coverture: the common-law doctrine under which a married woman's legal existence was merged into her husband's while the marriage lasted.
• Creature: in legal writing, something that exists only because the law created it. Courts often call a corporation a "creature of the state" or an agency a "creature of statute," meaning it has only the powers that the law creating it gives it. For example, a federal agency can act only within the authority Congress granted.
• Credit: has several meanings.

Why precise terms matter

Legal words often look like everyday words, but they can carry a precise meaning. Because of that, a small misreading can change how you understand a deadline, a duty or a right. Our glossary keeps each definition short and links it to the procedures where it matters.