Skip to main content

Search

Consumer Bankruptcy Law and Practice: 2013 Advisory Committee Note on Form 6

Schedule I: Your Income (Official Form 6I) and Schedule J: Your Expenses (Official Form 6J), which apply only in cases of individual debtors, have been revised as part of the Forms Modernization Project, making the forms easier to read and, as a result, likely to generate more complete and accurate responses.

Consumer Bankruptcy Law and Practice: 2005–2007 Advisory Committee Note on Form 6

The forms of the Schedules of Assets and Liabilities are amended to implement the provisions of the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005, Pub. L. No. 109-8, 119 Stat. 23, (April 20, 2005) (“BAPCPA”). An amendment that directs the debtor to avoid disclosing the name and address of any minor child occurs in Schedules B, D, E, F, G, and H in conformity with § 112 which was added to the Code in 2005.

Consumer Bankruptcy Law and Practice: Old Form 17 Instructions (may not be applicable to new Forms 417A, B, and C)

NOTICE OF APPEAL

A party in a bankruptcy case who thinks the judge has decided a matter incorrectly has a right to appeal any final judgment, order, or decree of the judge. When a matter is appealed, another judge, or a group of three judges, will review the original judge’s ruling. The first step in exercising this right to have the original decision reexamined is the filing of a notice of appeal.

I. APPLICABLE LAW AND RULES

Consumer Bankruptcy Law and Practice: About the Form

The statement of financial affairs (Official Form 107) is required to be completed by all individual debtors. 11 U.S.C. § 521(a)(1)(B)(iii); Bankruptcy Rule 1007(b)(1). The form contains detailed questions that must be answered, but it is relatively simple to fill out. It is important to pay careful attention to the specific time period requested, as various questions ask for information about several different time periods. Most of the questions include a box labeled “no” which should be checked if that is the appropriate response to the given question.

Consumer Bankruptcy Law and Practice: Annotations to Completed Sample Form 107

1. The statement of financial affairs (Official Form 107) is required to be completed by all individual debtors. 11 U.S.C. § 521(a)(1)(B)(iii); Fed. R. Bankr. P. 1007(b)(1). The form contains detailed questions that must be answered, but it is relatively simple to fill out. It is important to pay careful attention to the specific time period requested, as some questions ask for information about several different time periods. Most of the questions include a box labeled “no” which should be checked if that is the appropriate response to the given question.

Consumer Bankruptcy Law and Practice: Official Form 107 Instructions

Statement of Financial Affairs for Individuals Filing for Bankruptcy (Official Form 107)

Your Statement of Financial Affairs for Individuals Filing for Bankruptcy, provides a summary of your financial history over certain periods of time before you file for bankruptcy. If you are an individual in a bankruptcy case, you must fill out this statement. 11 U.S.C. § 521(a) and Bankruptcy Rule 1007(b)(1).

Consumer Bankruptcy Law and Practice: About the Form

To receive a discharge in a chapter 7 or chapter 13 case, the debtor or the course provider must submit proof of completion of an instructional course concerning financial management. If the course provider does not submit a certification the course has been completed, the Bankruptcy Rules provide that the certification of course completion must be submitted by the debtor, using Official Form 423 (formerly Form 23). See Fed. R. Bankr. P. 1007(c).

Consumer Bankruptcy Law and Practice: 2015 Advisory Committee Note on Form 423

Official Form 423, Certification About a Financial Management Course, is revised as part of the Forms Modernization Project. The form replaces former Official Form 23, Debtor’s Certification of Completion of Postpetition Instructional Course Concerning Personal Financial Management. Form 423 is renumbered to distinguish it from the forms used by non-individual debtors, such as corporations and partnerships.

Consumer Bankruptcy Law and Practice: 17.1.1.2 Purpose of Chapter 12

Chapter 12 is a powerful reorganization tool for eligible debtors, providing authority for debt reduction that exceeds what can be accomplished in either a chapter 11 or 13 bankruptcy. However, it is not a panacea for family farmers’ or fishermen’s economic woes. It provides a specific limited remedy that will help some but not all of those eligible. Attorneys must analyze each situation to determine if their client is eligible for chapter 12 and, if so, whether filing is the most appropriate remedy.

Consumer Bankruptcy Law and Practice: 17.1.2 Special Bankruptcy Code Protections Outside of Chapter 12

Early on, Congress acknowledged special circumstances that justify at least minimal protection for farmers experiencing financial distress. This protection initially came in the form of a limitation on a creditor’s right to force the farmer-debtor into bankruptcy. As early as the Bankruptcy Act of 1898 creditors of a “person engaged chiefly in farming or in tillage of soil” were prevented from forcing that person into an involuntary bankruptcy.7 This protection against involuntary bankruptcy remains the law today.

Consumer Bankruptcy Law and Practice: 17.1.3.1 Generally

Before the creation of chapter 12, family farmer reorganization options were limited to chapters 11 and 13. These two options are still available to family farmers who qualify; family farmers are not compelled to use chapter 12 to reorganize.21 In most cases, however, chapter 12 is the preferred option. Chapters 11 and 13 were not constructed with the special needs of the farmer debtor in mind and both provide significant barriers to farmer reorganization.

Consumer Bankruptcy Law and Practice: B. Calculation of CMI

Although Chapters 7, 11, and 13 use CMI for different purposes, the basic computation is the same in each. As defined in § 101(10A), CMI is the monthly average of certain income that the debtor (and in a joint case, the debtor’s spouse) received in the six calendar months before the bankruptcy filing.

Consumer Bankruptcy Law and Practice: C. The means test deductions from current monthly income

The means test operates by deducting from CMI defined allowances for living expenses and payment of secured and priority debt, leaving disposable income presumptively available to pay unsecured non-priority debt. These deductions from CMI are set out in the Code at § 707(b)(2)(A)(ii)–(iv). The forms for Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 have similar sections (Parts V and IV, respectively) for calculating these deductions. The calculations are divided into subparts reflecting three different kinds of allowed deductions.

1. Deductions under IRS standards

Consumer Bankruptcy Law and Practice: About the Form

In every case a disclosure of fees paid to the debtor’s attorney must be filed. 11 U.S.C. § 329; Fed. R. Bankr. P. 2016(b). Director’s Form B2030, though not an Official Form, has been promulgated by the Administrative Office of the United States Courts to fulfill this requirement. The purpose of this form is to allow the court and the United States trustee, who also must receive a copy, to monitor fees and to make sure they are reasonable.

Consumer Bankruptcy Law and Practice: About the Forms

This form was formerly Form 9 but has been renumbered as 309. The form will generally be prepared by the clerk of the bankruptcy court. It facilitates the process of notifying creditors of the filing of the petition, the meeting of creditors, and certain deadlines in the case. This form also provides notice of the claims filing period provided to “a governmental unit.” This Appendix only reprints the versions of Form 309 applicable to most consumer cases. All of the versions of Form 309, including the following forms not reprinted above: