BEFORE you file: INSTRUCTIONS FOR FILING BANKRUPTCY (for Assistance Ddesk visitor) 1. You must take a credit counseling course. This is required by law. The cost of the class is between $10 and $50. See the attached list of trustee-approved counselors for Illinois. You must complete the course before you file or your case may be thrown out of court. The credit counseling certificate must be dated before the time you file your case and not more than 180 days old. 2. You should get a credit report. Go to www.annualcreditreport.com and obtain a credit report for free from any one of the three major credit bureaus. It doesn t matter which you one get. While you can t rely on a credit report 100%, it will be very useful when you are completing the bankruptcy forms. 3. You must complete the bankruptcy forms. Use the attached instructions (Completing the Bankruptcy Forms, pages 3 and 4 of this packet) to fill them out as fully as possible, or go online to find our extended instructions and sample forms at s www.tinyurl.com/bkhelpdesk Do not return to the Assistance Desk until you have completed the forms. The attorney will not complete the schedules for you. 4. You may have an attorney review your paperwork: Once you have completed the forms, you may return to the Assistance Desk for a review of your forms. This is not required, but recommended. 5. You should copy all forms that you plan to submit. Make at least two copies of everything you will file with the Clerk. Try to do this before filing, as the Clerk s office charges 25 per page. To file your case: Go to the Clerk s office, which is Room 713 in the Dirksen Federal Building, 219 S. Dearborn. Have all of the items listed below in the following order: Voluntary Petition Exhibit D Certificate from approved credit counselor Schedules: Summary; Statistical Summary; Schedules A through J Statement of Financial Affairs Statement of Social Security Number Notice to Individual Consumer Debtors Form B22 (the Means Test) If filing Chapter 7, Debtor s Statement of Intention (Form 8) If filing Chatper 13, Chapter 13 Plan Payment $335 for a Chapter 7 OR $310 for a Chapter 13 OR Application to Pay Fee in Installments OR only for a Chapter 7, Application for Waiver of Fee Once all your documents are filed, your work is not over. See the next page (page 2) for instructions on what to do once your case is filed *** What if I have an emergency? *** If you think that you need to file bankruptcy right away because of an emergency, stay and talk to the attorney to find out if you have a legal emergency, and if so, what you need to do today and tomorrow to preserve your rights. - 1 - (rev 06/14)
AFTER filing, you must: 1. Submit your tax returns and pay stubs to your trustee: o Last 60 days of pay stubs o If you were not employed in the last 60 days, you can submit an affidavit o Federal tax returns if filing Chapter 7, the last tax year; if filing Chapter 13, the last 4 years o If you do not have copies of these tax returns the trustee will accept a tax return transcript from the IRS. If you were not required to file a tax return you can submit an affidavit 2. Where and how do you submit tax returns and pay stubs? o If you filed a Chapter 7 case, check this page on the bankruptcy court s web site, http://www.ilnb.uscourts.gov/ch7_trustees/341_info.cfm. to find out how your Chapter 7 trustee will accept these documents. If you cannot find your trustee on this list, call your trustee to see how (s)he would like to receive these documents. o If you filed a Chapter 13 case, go to the web site for your trustee for instructions: 1. Marilyn Marshall: http://www.chi13.com/web/staff.html 2. Tom Vaughn: http://www.13network.com/chihome.htm 3. Glenn Stearns: http://www.lisle13.com/payadvicestaxreturns.pdf If your trustee wants documents in a format that you don t have access to, call the trustee to see what you need to do to you are required to submit this information or your case can be thrown out of court. 3. If you filed Chapter 7 and have secured debts, you should send a copy of the Statement of Intention (Form 8) to your secured creditors. You should do this as soon as possible and no later than 14 days after filing. If you do not do this, your creditors will not know you intentions and they may cause problems for you. You may lose the protection of the automatic stay for those debts. 4. Complete your Debtor Education course. You may take this class with any of the approved counselors on the list included in this binder. It costs between $10 and $50. You do not have to take it from the company that gave you your credit counseling course, but you may. 5. File your Debtor Education Certificate and Form B23 with the Clerk s office (Room 713). 6. Attend your 341 Meeting. This is an opportunity for the trustee (a representative for your creditors and the Court system) and your creditors (if any attend) to ask any remaining questions about your filing. 7. Make any changes to your bankruptcy documents that are required or requested by your trustee. Submit these to the Clerk s office all at once, so that you will only pay the fee to amend ($30) one time. 8. If you filed a Chapter 13 case, you must begin making your trustee payments within 30 days after your case was filed. If you have a mortgage payment on your home, you must make your regular mortgage payments on their first due date (typically the first of the month) after your case was filed. The same is true if you are renting a house or apartment, or you are leasing a car. o Your first trustee payment is due within 30 days of filing 1. whether or not you have attended your 341 meeting and 2. whether or not the judge has approved (confirmed) your case. 9. Check your credit report 30 days after discharge. Preferably, get a free credit report from one of the credit bureaus that you did not use to obtain the credit report you pulled before filing. Make sure that all of your discharged debts appear as Discharged on your credit report. If they do not, send a letter to the credit bureaus stating you received a bankruptcy discharge and include your case number. - 2 -
COMPLETING YOUR BANKRUPTCY FORMS Voluntary Petition: Fill in all boxes that apply to you as a pro se ( for oneself, without a lawyer), consumer debtor in a Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy. Note that you do not have an attorney or a petition preparer, so ignore boxes that ask for their information. Exhibit D: Once you have completed your pre-filing credit counseling class, you may check the first box on this form. This informs the Court that you completed your class at least one minute and not more than 180 days before filing. If you have not done this, your case may be dismissed. Certificate from approved credit counselor: Again, this must be dated for at least one minute and not more than 180 days before filing your bankruptcy. Insert this certificate behind Exhibit D. Schedules: Summary; Statistical Summary; Schedules A through J: Summary of Schedules (You may set this aside until you have completed all of the more specific, lettered schedules because it asks for their totals. But be sure to come back to it!) The Attached column should state YES for ALL schedules. Even if you completed a schedule with None and 0, you must still attach it. The No. of Sheets column counts how many sheets are included in each schedule. Note: Schedule B will always contain at least 3 sheets; all others will contain at least 1 sheet. Copy your totals from the lettered schedules to the Summary in the boxes with dollar signs ($). Finally, add up the totals in the columns No. of Sheets, Assets, and Liabilities. Enter each of these totals in the TOTAL row at the bottom of the chart. Statistical Summary (Again, you may set this aside until you have completed all of the more specific, lettered schedules because it asks for their totals. But be sure to come back to it!): Read each item and fill in the requested information. TIP: Each item notes where you can find that information in your schedules. Schedules A & B: These schedules tell the Court what you. possess. We often hear people say, I have nothing. Well, if you re wearing clothes, if you have 20 in your pocket, if you sleep on a bed of your own, you have something and you must list it. Usually, much or even all of your property will be exempt, meaning neither the trustee nor your creditors will take it away from you. However, you still must list it. Easy rule to remember if you want to keep it, you must list it on Schedule A or B or G Schedule C: This schedule relists all of your property (from A & B) to tell the Court why your property legally cannot be taken under Illinois law. To complete this schedule, you will need the list of Illinois and federal nonbankruptcy exemption statutes included in this packet. Schedules D, E, & F: These schedules tell the Court all about your debts. They fall under three categories: Secured debts (Schedule D): A secured debt is a debt you owe for something that could be physically taken away from you if you do not pay (like a house, condo, car ). Unsecured priority (Schedule E): An unsecured debt is a debt for something that cannot or would not physically be taken back from you if you did not pay. Priority means that it falls under one of the categories listed on the first two pages of Schedule E under the heading, Types of Priority Claims. Priority does not mean the same as non-dischargeable. Unsecured Nonpriority (Schedule F): This schedule lists any other kinds of debt you have: credit cards, medical bills, student loans, debts on repossessed property, parking tickets, etc. If you have collection agencies pursuing you, too, you should list them below the original creditor for whom they are collecting. However, do not relist the amount owed, as you do not want to double-count any of your debts. Schedule G: List any leases (apartment, vehicle) or renting agreements (furniture, appliances), or ongoing contracts (cell phone or employment contracts). - 3 -
Schedule H: List anyone who has co-signed on any of your debts and in the second column, the creditor to whom that debt is owed. Schedule I: This schedule takes a snapshot of your current monthly income, including income from employment or public benefits. Include non cash benefits (Food Stamps) that help pay your expenses Schedule J: List your monthly expenses, making sure each expense is listed on the correct line. Complete the calculation in item 20 to get your net monthly income (income minus expenses) this number may be negative. Declaration Concerning Debtor s Schedules: Sign and date only the top section of this page. Statement of Financial Affairs: This document takes a longer view of your income situation. Read and answer every question, paying attention to the length of time specified in the question. If you have not owned a business, most of the questions from #17 on will not apply to you, but you should read through them to be sure. NOTE: If you have worked at all in the past two years, you must list that income under item #1. If you have received any public benefits in the past two years (unemployment, food stamps, disability, social security ), you must list that income under item #2. Statement of Social Security Number: This is the only place in all of your documents on which you will write all nine digits of your social security number. Anywhere else where this information is requested, you should only write the last four digits. Notice to Individual Consumer Debtors: This document ensures that you know 1) the legal requirement that you take a credit counseling class before filing and a debtor education course after filing; 2) the differences between the four chapters of bankruptcy; and 3) the severe penalties applicable for any fraud committed by you during your bankruptcy. Form B22 (the Means Test): Be sure that you have the correct Means Test (22A is for Chapter 7; 22C is for Chapter 13 cases). TIPS: For the Applicable Median Family Income question (#14), find the page in this packet that lists that info or see the web site, www.usdoj.gov/ust/. Pay close attention to all directions, but especially those included with questions 14 & 15 on Form 22A or questions 21-23 on Form 22C, as they may determine that you do not need to complete anything more after this point until the last section (the last section is just a sign-and-date box). Statement of Intention: If you have secured debts (see Schedule D for your secured debts), you will use this form to tell the Court what you intend to do to keep that property whether keep it and continue to pay, reaffirm the debt, redeem the property - or surrender it. Payment If paying in full with cash or money order, no form is needed If you can pay, but not in full now, complete Form 3A to pay in installments If you can t pay the fee within 120 days, complete Form 3B to apply for a fee waiver (Chapter 7 only) Did you return to the Summary and Statistical Summary to double-check all of your entries and totals? - 4 -
Median income by state use when completing Form 22 on and after 11/1/2014 State 1 earner Family Size 2 People 3 People 4 People * Illinois $47,469 $61,443 $72,342 $83,546 Indiana $42,716 $53,074 $61,056 $73,020 Iowa $43,792 $61,104 $67,062 $81,219 Kentucky $41,330 $48,365 $57,617 $68,680 Michigan $44,504 $53,640 $62,973 $76,622 Missouri $41,700 $51,940 $61,119 $71,550 Wisconsin $42,969 $58,786 $68,489 $82,350 * Add $8,100 for each individual in excess of 4. Family Size State 5 people 6 people 7 people 8 people Illinois $91,646 $99,746 $107,846 $115,946 Indiana $81,120 $89,220 $97,320 $105,420 Iowa $89,319 $97,419 $105,519 $113,619 Kentucky $76,780 $84,880 $92,980 $101,080 Michigan $84,722 $92,822 $100,922 $109,022 Missouri $79,650 $87,750 $95,850 $103,950 Wisconsin $90,450 $98,550 $106,650 $114,750 150% of the Federal poverty guidelines for 2014 (Used by court when considering filing fee waivers) Monthly basis Yearly basis 48 Contiguous 48 Contiguous Persons in States and Persons in States and family unit D.C. family unit D.C. 1 $1,458.75 1 $17,505.00 2 $1,966.25 2 $23,595.00 3 $2,473.75 3 $29,685.00 4 $2,981.25 4 $35,775.00 5 $3,488.75 5 $41,865.00 6 $3,996.25 6 $47,955.00 7 $4,503.75 7 $54,045.00 8 $5,011.25 8 $60,135.00 For each For each additional $507.50 additional $6,090.00 person add person add