Abstract
<jats:p>This article examines the grounds on which Russian bankruptcy legislation allows for the determination of an individual’s insolvency. The analysis focuses on the relationship between the formal criteria enshrined in law and the debtor’s economic condition, which they are intended to capture. The normative structure of the signs of bankruptcy of a citizen is considered: the established amount of debt, the duration of non-fulfillment of obli-gations and other circumstances of the initiation of bankruptcy proceedings. The legal model of bankruptcy combines indicators of various natures. The legal bankruptcy model combines features of a different nature. On the one hand, formalized indicators are used to determine the moment when judicial intervention is permis-sible. On the other hand, these indicators themselves are based on an idea of the debtor’s actual financial situ-ation. In this regard, the analysis also affects the economic dimension of a citizen’s financial insolvency. We are talking about a condition in which the debt burden and income structure cease to ensure regular fulfillment of obligations. The author substantiates the position on the need for a more detailed differentiation of the legal criteria for initiating bankruptcy proceedings and substantive signs of financial insolvency of the debtor. A direc-tion for improving bankruptcy legislation is proposed, including those aimed at specifying the construction of insolvency and distinguishing the material criterion of insolvency from the formal principles of its qualification.</jats:p>