What Documents do I Need to Provide for a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy?

Documents! A favorite task for all of our clients. #RealTalk – We would say that the most time consuming part of filing for bankruptcy is getting together all the paperwork that we need in order to properly vet your case and make sure that you are filing within the correct bankruptcy chapter. Below is a general list of the documents and information that we will need to prepare a bankruptcy filing. We may ask for more or different documents but a general list is:

• An inventory of your furniture and personal property with estimated current-day values
• Any cash laying around under the mattress
• Six months of statements for all brokerage, checking and savings accounts and latest statements for any annuities or CD’s
• Latest statements for all pensions, 401k’s, IRA’s, or other retirement accounts
• Copies of any leases that you may have with your landlord and deposits they hold
• All collectible items such as antiques, books, art, etc.
• Car registration, insurance, loan statements for all automobiles that you own
• If you are a co-signor and on title for anyone else’s car, you have to provide all the information for that vehicle also. That vehicle may be subject to the trustee’s disposition. We need to make sure that it’s not at risk in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
• Any other items that you may own or be on title for: boats, airplanes, jet skis, etc.
• List of jewelry, firearms, sporting equipment, cameras, etc and their current day value
• Any money that is owed to you, such as tax refunds, outstanding personal loans, etc.
• If you own any patents patents, copyrights, or trademarks outright – you must provide those documents.
• Any office equipment and/or machinery that you own
• Any lawsuits that you may receive money from must be disclosed
• Vacation Home? Rental Condos? Land? We will ask for the documentation (title, insurance, mortgages, etc) and value.

Sounds overwhelming? It’s not. We will walk you through the process and we provide two different ways to upload the documents to us conveniently. If you want to bring them in person and go over it with us, we are happy to do that also.

Thought the list above was it? Nope! We also need to know about student loans, child support (whether you are paying or receiving) and some taxes. All of the information above and below is so that we can accurately prepare your bankruptcy petition and accompanying forms. Some of the other bankruptcy information that we need is:

• A list of all your assets so we can determine what is exempt and what is not
• A list of liabilities that do not show up on your credit report such as gym memberships, doctor bills, cell phone bills, any relatives/friends that you owe money to – in short any debt that someone/anyone claims you owe them.
• If you are self employed, a profit and loss statement
• A list of your current household expenses; groceries, FPL, cable, etc
• A list of any contracts and leases that you have entered into or guaranteed for someone else
• A copy of your tax returns for the past three years

Did those lists scare you? All the more reason to let us help you through this process. If you live anywhere in Broward County. We provide bankruptcy consultations for residents of Davie, Pembroke Pines, Cooper City, Hollywood, Coral Springs, Fort Lauderdale or Plantation. You owe it to yourself to take us up on our free bankruptcy consultations and find out we help you through the process.