A bankruptcy petition is an application to the court for someone’s assets to be taken and sold in order to cover any debts they might have. The petition can be made by a debtor themselves or his or her creditors. With the courts approval the debtors’ assets are sold and the funds distributed between creditors to pay for the debts the person may owe to their creditors, that they can otherwise not cover as they do not have the sufficient funds to do so.