Bankruptcy Resources

Free Bankruptcy Legal Research
This bankruptcy resource is a legal research and electronic publishing activity of the Cornell Law School, a valuable resource for any lawyer or attorney.

Bankruptcy Fees

• Bankruptcy Filing Fees

When an individual is facing the situation of being bankrupted and is looking for debt relief, they make seek out an attorney for assistance. One of the first things you should know is that you will need to pay a filing fee when you file for a chapter 7 or chapter 13. The fee is for chapter 7 is $299 and the fee for chapter 13 is $274. For a chapter 7 bankruptcy, if you’re unable to pay the filing fee due to whatever your financial hardship is, you can apply to pay this in installments. If this is approved, you can pay the fee out generally over the next six months. If due to your financial situation (where your income is less than 150 percent of the federal poverty level for your family size) you cannot pay the fee either upfront or over time, a judge can potentially waive the fee entirely for you. If the petition applies to both you and your spouse being bankrupt, you must both file jointly and sign the application together.

Chapter 7 Fee Waivers

• JCUS Interim Procedures Regarding Chapter 7 Fee Waiver Provisions

This is the Judicial Conference of the United States Interim Procedures regarding the Chapter 7 Fee Waiver provisions of the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection act of 2005. In the case where an individual who is bankrupt cannot pay the filing fee, either upfront or in installments, and the fee is waived, as determined by a judge, you will no longer be responsible for the fee, except in the case where initially a chapter 7 is filed and it later switches to a chapter 13 – then you will have to pay the fee in full for the chapter 13 filing.

• Chapter 7 Fee Waiver Application (Official Form 3B) (pdf)

When the individual filing for debt relief under bankruptcy protection cannot pay the $299 fee for filing, and you also cannot afford to pay this over a period of months, you can fill out an application to send to a judge to have the fee waived, even without Arizona Bankruptcy Attorneys in mesa. Due to being bankrupt and having this type of financial stress and debts you cannot pay already, a judge can rule you do not have to pay, then you no longer have an obligation. The application includes points such as detailed income information, your expenses, your property information and your assets, so make sure you have any needed records in order to obtain the information if you do not know it already.

• Rule 1006, Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure (pdf)

These are all of the federal guidelines that cover your bankruptcy and all of the things that you must know when you first decide to go down this path of debt relief. Obviously, you don’t just choose to say you’re bankrupt, and anyone facing this situation is usually at their last resort. At Fife & Cesta, we understand we are your hope of navigating through very confusing legislation when you are already coping with all of the situations being bankrupted has created for you. These rules cover things such as two or more cases against one debtor being able to be consolidated in court, and the death or incompetency of a debtor and more. All in all, this is 85 pages of legislation covering any aspect of bankruptcy you could ever dream of and then some.

• 2011 Poverty Guidelines (pdf)

The poverty guidelines specify at which level (based on family size) a family is considered to be in poverty. For example, if you are a family of 5 and your family makes more than $3,271 per month, you do not fall into the poverty category. This is applicable in dealing with fees associated with obtaining relief of your pressing debts and creditors by filing bankruptcy protection, as individuals in poverty will be able to be exempted from the fees.

Credit Counseling Agencies and Debtor Education Providers

• Who are approved credit counseling agencies and debtor education providers?

These are approved credit counseling agencies and debtor education providers, as stated by the US Trustee program. While they do not endorse or recommend any one company, they do offer credibility as to these companies’ legitimacy. In this arena, you have to be careful. There are many fraudulent and dishonest players who will pretend to offer you help with your debts and attempt to collect money from you in order to help you “consolidate your loans” but in reality, they leave you in the lurch with money out of pocket and no true help for the pressing demands of creditors bearing down upon you. So check out the list of approved agencies for some peace of mind and assurance.

• How to become a credit counseling agency or debtor education provider

The bankruptcy administrator approves credit counseling agencies and debtor education providers. Anyone seeking to get this authorization must go through the approval process for their area. You can get lists of approved providers through the court, when you go to file, so that you can be sure you are dealing with legitimate businesses.

Means Testing

• Census Bureau and IRS Information

When you are initially in the process of filing bankruptcy, you will be required to complete forms related to your monthly income. This is for the purpose of “means testing” which is to say, determining whether you are actually bankrupt or possibly have some means which you initially did not want to disclose, and they will want to fully examine any possibly angles. For instance, if you have a 401K with hundreds of thousands of dollars and yet are attempting to state that you are bankrupt and simply cannot pay your debts, this would possibly not fly. As a debtor, you will put your income and expense information into the forms and then calculations are done based on this.

• Administrative Expenses Multiplier

Many people do not know that by law, you are allowed to factor in the expense of filing for a Chapter 13 into your monthly expenses, for the purposes of means testing to determine your qualification for these programs. As a debtor, there are forms to be filled out that show what percentage of your income can qualify for this when you are seeking this type of relief.

Other Useful Bankruptcy Resources

• Interim guidance regarding tax information (pdf)

When an individual is bankrupt, and in the process of filing, all of your tax information is kept strictly confidential. Even when documents are shared electronically, regarding your personal finances, and debt stress and so forth, none of this is able to be viewed by others not related to your case over the internet. There are steps you as bankrupted individuals must take to protect yourselves, which is to ensure that on forms where your social security number must be provided, only your last 4 digits should be visible electronically, and the names of your minor children must all be initials only, for their privacy protection as well. All dates of birth should only have the year and on financial accounts, only the last 4 digits should appear. The responsibility for the confidentiality on these documents lies in your hands, as the debtor, so please make sure you are aware of all places your information is being included. Identity theft is a very real threat, and is not what you need, when you are already dealing with the stress of unpaid debts and creditor pressures!

• Notice of Domestic Support Obligations

Be advised, that in the case of child support due, when you are stating you are bankrupt, the holder of the child support obligation claim (your ex-spouse, or child’s mother or father) will need to be notified that you have indeed filed for debt relief in the form of bankruptcy protection. A second notice once you have been discharged of your debts will also need to be sent to the person. You must provide contact information for the State Child Support Enforcement Agency.

• Bankruptcy Notice Provider Application (pdf)

This is the form filled out by debtors who will be notifying their creditors of their bankruptcy filing.

• Approved Bankruptcy Notice Providers

This is a list determined by the US Courts, of those providers approved to deliver bankruptcy notices.

• Interim guidance regarding tax information (pdf)
• Executive Office for United States Trustees

This is a part of the US government, under the Department of Justice. Their job is to oversee cases involving individuals who have sought debt relief through an avenue of bankruptcy protection. When an individual decides they are bankrupt, this is not the end, but is the beginning of the process of settling debts with creditors in a legal manner so that your credit nightmare can end.

• Filing for bankruptcy without an attorney

Corporations cannot file for bankruptcy without a lawyer. An individual who is bankrupted can choose to do this, for the obvious reason of not being able to afford legal fees! This is however, a dangerous move, as failing to follow the steps correctly, can lead to very big trouble with you not having the protection another bankrupt individual, who did use an attorney, would have. There are short term effects and long term consequences involved in any type of bankruptcy, and an attorney well versed in this process of debt relief will be able to help you through what are otherwise landmines for anyone to wade through.

• Obtain another copy of the Discharge Order

Once a bankrupt individual has gone through the appropriate process in filing, they receive a discharge order, releasing them from the debts included in the bankruptcy. If the form is lost for any reason, you can obtain another copy, from the clerk in the court where the filing was done. There will be a small fee charged for this.

• Bankruptcy Forms

When you are bankrupt, you cannot simply say “I have no money”. There are specific legal forms to be filled out, all of which can be accessed online. You can either fill them out electronically, or they can be printed, filled in and sent in by mail. Neither way is “better”. There are cautions with the security of information when filing electronically, and this is something for you, as the debtor, to be aware of and ensure you are protected from.

• The Chapters of Bankruptcy

The most common types of bankruptcy are Chapter 7 and Chapter 13. These are the ones that apply to every day individuals. There are also Chapters 9, 11, 12 and 15 but these apply to corporations, farms and municipalities and for a majority, do not apply. This link defines the various chapters of bankruptcy.

Rebuilding And Protecting Your Credit

Mesa Bankruptcy Attorneys William Fife & Tom Cesta