Documents Filed in Bankruptcy

Austin, Texas, Board Certified Bankruptcy Lawyer

If you decide that bankruptcy is the appropriate remedy for your financial problems then you will be required to file several documents with the court. These documents contain disclosures of essentially everything about your finances for several years before the case is filed. You file these disclosures under penalty of perjury. Failure to disclose accurate information may result in the denial of your discharge and is a felony that is punishable by up to five years imprisonment and a $500,000 fine.

The documents that must be filed include the Voluntary Petition, Summary of Schedules, Schedule of Real Property, Schedule of Personal Property, Schedule of Property Claimed As Exempt, Schedule of Creditors Holding Secured Claims, Schedule of Creditors Holding Unsecured Priority Claims, Schedule of Creditors Holding Unsecured Non-priority Claims, Schedule of Executory Contracts and Unexpired Leases, Schedule of Co-debtors, Schedule of Current Income of Individual Debtor(s), Schedule of Current Expenditures of Individual Debtor(s), Declaration Concerning Debtor's Schedules, Statement of Financial Affairs, Means Test Calculations and Documents, Chapter 7 Individual Debtor's Statement of Intention, Statement of Social Security Number, and the Creditor Mailing Matrix. Other documents that are not included in the list above may be required in your case.

Gathering Information and Documents

After you have made your decision to file bankruptcy, then our office normally schedules an appointment for you to meet with one of our legal assistants to review a bankruptcy worksheet so that we can begin to gather all of the information that will be required for us to prepare all of the documents required to be filed in your case. Our legal assistant will assist you in filling out the worksheet but there is usually more information required than is available when you come in for your appointment.

After your appointment with our legal assistant then you will take the worksheet home to complete. Many of our clients find that they have questions and need to meet with Mr. Walker or with one of our legal assistants after they begin filling out the worksheet. You may rest assured that we will spend as much time with you as you require in order to ensure all of the documents filed with the bankruptcy court are accurate, complete, and truthful.

Once the worksheet is completed and you have returned it to us then we check the information to make sure it is complete and internally consistent. You would be surprised how easy it is to leave out important information and not be aware of it. Next we make sure that your belongings such as your house, your cars, your pensions, your life insurance, your furnishings and all of your other possessions are protected by exemptions against liquidation by the trustee. Then we perform the means testing analysis to make sure that you will qualify for relief under the chapter you have chosen.

Reviewing Official Documents Prior to Filing

Once we are sure we have all of the information we need, we prepare all of the official documents that you are required to file with the Bankruptcy Clerk and schedule an appointment with you so that we can review the documents with you, make any corrections that are necessary, witness your execution of the documents, and file the appropriate documents with the Bankruptcy Clerk. This process normally takes two to three hours.

The filing of the bankruptcy petition is the event which commences a bankruptcy case. When the petition is filed, the court clerk will assign a case number, judge and panel trustee. Immediately upon the filing of the bankruptcy petition, a bankruptcy trustee will be randomly assigned from a pool of "panel trustees." Panel trustees are individuals that have been pre-screened and hired to act as Chapter 7 trustees by the U.S. Trustee of the district in which they serve. The panel trustee will receive a copy of all bankruptcy paperwork after it is filed.

File Petition, Schedules, Statements & Other Documents

In most Chapter 7 bankruptcy cases, the bankruptcy petition will be filed at the same time as the other required paperwork (the bankruptcy schedules and statement of financial affairs). However, you may elect to file only the bankruptcy petition, and file the other documents later. This is normally done if the filing needs to be done quickly to prevent an impending foreclosure or repossession, or the collection of a court judgment. If you elect not to file the schedules and statement of financial affairs along with the petition, these documents must be filed within 15 days after the bankruptcy petition is filed. The court will dismiss the case if these documents are not promptly filed.

The property list must disclose all property you own on the date the case is filed, and give an estimated value for each item. The property list must be itemized, showing each item, and an estimated market value for each item. Personal property held for personal use must be valued at the price a retail merchant selling similar items would charge. You have a duty to make reasonable inquiry to determine the market value of your assets.

The creditor list must disclose the names, addresses and account numbers of all creditors. Many debtors intend to pay one or more of their unsecured debts, even after their bankruptcy has been completed, believing that they will be able to keep a credit card and/or rehabilitate their credit report if they omit one or more credit cards from the creditor list. This is usually not a good financial decision but, more importantly, it violates the bankruptcy laws. You are legally required to disclose and list all creditors, regardless of whether you intend to continue paying the debt. You may be able to retain charging privileges with certain creditors by reaffirming the debt you have with them.

The budget must list and disclose all of your current monthly income and expenses, and disclose any anticipated changes in income of more than 10 percent within one year after the case is filed. The U.S. Trustee randomly audits bankruptcy cases and it is very important to make sure that the information contained in your budget is accurate. I have seen one petition preparer’s website that advertises the fact that they have sophisticated software that allows you to plug in numbers until you get the result that you want but, remember, you are the one who will suffer the consequences if you are not able to justify where the numbers came from.

The statement of financial affairs is a list of 25 questions inquiring about your financial transactions over the past several years. Almost all significant financial transactions over the past several years must be disclosed on the statement of financial affairs.

Notify Creditors

The bankruptcy court notifies, by mail, all creditors advising them of:

• The filing of the bankruptcy
• The case number
• The automatic stay
• The name of the trustee assigned to the case (if filed under chapters 7 or 13)
• The date set for the meeting of creditors
• The deadline, if any, set for filing objections to the discharge of the debtor and/or the discharge of specific debts
• Whether and where to file claims

The exact information in the notice may be slightly different depending on the chapter under which the case is filed.

Free Consultation: Contact Board Certified bankruptcy attorney Fred E. Walker in Austin, Texas, for a debt relief consultation. There is no cost or obligation.