Open a Bankruptcy Case - Voluntary Petition

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Bare Bone Petition - Required Documents for Filing

Chapter 7

• Filing Fee. If the fee is to be paid in installments or the debtor requests a waiver of the fee, the debtor must be an individual and must file a signed application for court approval. (Official Form 3A or 3B)
• Voluntary Petition (Official Form 1)
• Names and addresses of all creditors
• Exhibit D - Required if debtor is an individual
• Statement of Social Security Number (Official Form 21). Required if the debtor is an individual.

Chapter 13

• Filing Fee. If the fee is to be paid in installments, the debtor must file a signed application for court approval. (Official Form 3A)
• Voluntary Petition (Official Form 1)
• Names and addresses of all creditors
• Exhibit D - Required if debtor is an individual
• Statement of Social Security Number (Official Form 21). Required if the debtor is an individual.

Chapter 11

• Filing Fee. If the fee is to be paid in installments, the debtor must be an individual and must file a signed application for court approval. Official Form 3A and Fed.R.Bankr.P. 1006(b).
• Voluntary Petition (Official Form 1)
• Names and addresses of all creditors
• Exhibit D - Required if debtor is an individual
• Statement of Social Security Number (Official Form 21). Required if the debtor is an
• individual.
• List of Creditors Holding the 20 Largest Unsecured Claims (Official Form 4)

Chapter 12

• Filing Fee. If the fee is to be paid in installments, the debtor must be an individual and must file signed application for court approval. (Official Form 3A)
• Voluntary Petition (Official Form 1)
• Names and addresses of all creditors
• Exhibit D - Required if debtor is an individual
• Statement of Social Security Number (Official Form 21). Required if the debtor is an individual.

Link to Required Documents

• Voluntary Petition (B1) - 1st 3 pages
• Exhibit D
• Statement of Social Security Number (B21)
• Full Filing Fee or Application/Order to Pay Filing Fee in Installments (B3A) Chapter 13 or 7 or Application for Waiver of Chapter 7 Filing Fee (B3B)

Refer to Schedule of Fees for Filing Fee requirements.

For additional requirements, please review B 200, Required Lists, Schedules, Statements and Fees.

Related Cases

Before filing your case, please ensure the case number(s) of any pending bankruptcy cases filed by any Spouse, Partner or Affiliate of the Debtor is recorded on page 2 of the petition.

The following steps should be followed:

• Open the lead case and run Judge/Trustee Assignment
• Open the remaining related cases
• DO NOT run Judge/Trustee Assignment
• Contact the Manager of Public and Courtroom Services at (773) 495-5842 or (312) 435-6037
• The court personnel will assign the judge on the lead case to the other related cases

Note: The Certification of Relatedness is a required document at case opening and filed separately, Not included within the petition package.

Exhibit D

Effective October 1, 2006, the Voluntary Petition requires an Exhibit D for individual or joint cases. Exhibit D should be bookmarked as part of the petition package. In a joint case, each debtor must file a separate Exhibit D.

Exhibit D does not require an original signature of the debtor(s) when it is filed with the petition.  If it is filed subsequent to the case filing, the debtor's signature is required.

Effective December 08, 2012 CM/ECF now stores multiple SSN/ITINs and Tax ID/EINs for debtor and joint debtor. Up to five SSNs can be entered for debtor and joint debtor.

Statement of Social Security Number(s)

A Statement of Social Security Number(s) (B21) must be filed for all cases of individual debtors. In a joint case, one statement can be filed for both debtors.

Note: The Statement of Social Security is a required document at case opening and filed separately, Not included within the petition package.

Statistical Data Collected for U. S. Trustee

The Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 required the Executive Office of the US Trustees (EOUST) to capture and store additional data for all individuals debtors filing a Chapter 7, 11, 12 and 13 case.  The type data collected for each chapter varies with the exception of Chapter 12 and 13. The same type of data is collected for Chapter 12 and 13 cases. 

The source documents where the information is taken from is the petition, schedules and forms Chapter 7 - B22A, Chapter 11 - B22B or Chapter 13 - B22C.

Note: This document is filed separately, Not included within the petition package.

Street Address and Mailing Address

• The debtor's and/or joint debtor's street address must be reflected on the petition.
• If the debtor has a mailing address that is different from the street address, this address must also be reflected on the petition.

Redacted Filing - Rule 9037 - Privacy Protection for Filings Made With the Court.

Step-by-Step Procedures:

1. Select Bankruptcy>Open a BK Case

The following fields will default:

• Case type
• Date filed

2. Select Chapter, from the drop down option

If a Chapter 15 is selected a Main/Nomain field will appear for you to make a selection.

3. Joint Petition defaults to n (no). Select y for (yes) for a joint petition
4. Click Next

The Search for a debtor page will display. A search of the court's database will be conducted to determine if a record exist for the debtor.

A search should be conducted by the Social Security Number or Tax ID/EIN Number.

5. Enter the Social Security or Tax ID Number

Name Field Option - Complete this search option only IF a Social Security Number or Tax ID/EIN Number is NOT provided.

Note:  The proper format for entering data in CM/ECF is the use of Upper and lower letters.  Do not use all capital letters or all lower case letters.

• Complete the Debtor's Name fields:

  Individual Cases - complete the Last, First and Middle name fields (if applicable, Generation and/or Title)

  Business Cases - enter the entire business name in the Last/Business name field

6. Click Search

• No match found - "No person found" message will display. For instructions on how to complete, select No Person Found
• Match found - the party search results box will display with all possible matches. For instructions on how to complete, select Party Record Found

No Person Found

• Click Create new party
• Complete the debtor's name fields

  Individual Cases - complete the Last, First and Middle name fields (if applicable, Generation and/or Title)

  Business Cases - enter the entire business name in the Last/Business name field

Effective December 08, 2012 CM/ECF now stores multiple SSN/ITINs and Tax ID/EINs for debtor and joint debtor. Up to five SSNs can be entered for debtor and joint debtor.

A plus sign activates additional fields to enter multiple numbers for debtor and joint debtor

• Additional Social Security Numbers (SSN/ITIN) / Tax ID/EIN

If applicable, select the plus sign to enter additional SSN/ITIN or Tax ID/EIN

• Complete the address fields - begin with Address 1

If a mailing address is provided, the mailing address MUST be entered in CM/ECF

• Complete City, State and Zip Code fields
• Select County from the drop down option

If the street address and mailing address are provided on the petition, the county of the street address MUST be entered in CM/ECF

• Do Not complete the following fields: Office, County, Phone, Fax, E-mail, Party Text
• If applicable, click Alias to add alias name(s)

Party Record Found

The party search results page will display parties' name

• Review the list of names and select the name of the party that matches the petition

If the name matches and address does not, you will have the ability to update the address on the next screen

• Click Select name from list

The Debtor Information page will display

• If applicable, update the address

If the street address and mailing address are provided on the petition, the county of the street address MUST be entered in CM/ECF

• Do Not complete the following fields: Office, County, Phone, Fax, E-mail, Party Text
• If applicable, click Alias to add alias name(s)

7. Click Submit
8. Joint Filing, repeat step 6 and 7

If the joint debtor does not reside at the same address of the debtor, uncheck the Copy previous party's address box and enter the address information for the joint debtor.

The Divisional Office page will display - The divisional office is based on the county selection. Either Chicago or Rockford will display.

9.  Verity the correct county is displayed. If not, click the Back button and make the necessary corrections to the county field and click Submit/If yes
10. Click Next

The Statistical Data page will display.

If the debtor/joint debtor previously filed, the following message will display - It appears that these debtors filed cases

11. Complete the Statistical Data fields:

Chapter 11 Cases ONLY

Small business option will display, if applicable complete the following:

• Small business, defaults to n (no). If yes applies, change to y (yes)
• Check box if statement applies

Prior filing within last 8 years

• Based on the SSN/ITIN or Tax ID/EIN entered CM/ECF will default to no for no prior filings exist or yes if prior filing exist

If prior filings exist, please remember to include all prior bankruptcy cases on page 2 of the Voluntary Petition

Fee status

• Defaults to Paid

Note: All Chapter 11 cases must be paid in full at the time of filing

If the filing fee is not being paid in full, select one of the following options from the Fee status option:

Installment - select this option when the filing fee is being paid in installments (Chapter 13 and 7 cases only)

IFP Waiver (In Forma Pauperis) - select this option when the debtor(s) are seeking to have the filing fee waived. (Chapter 7 Individual case only)

Nature of debt

• Select business of consumer

Asset notice

• Defaults to the appropriate selection [chapter 7 = no, chapter 13 and 11 = yes]. Do Not make any changes to this field

Estimated number of creditors

• Click drop down arrow and make selection

Estimated assets

• Click drop down arrow and make selection

Estimated liabilities

• Click drop down arrow and make selection

Type of debtor

• Defaults to Individual. If applicable, select radio button for type of debtor

Nature of business

• If Nature of debt is business, selection radio button for nature of business

Note: Tax-Exempt Entity can be selected in conjunction with any type of business.

12. Click Next

A reminder message will display.

REMINDER: The following documents are to be FILED separately from the Petition. Please Do Not include within the Petition

13. Click Next to continue

The Summary of Schedules page will display.

This page should be completed for individual debtors filing a chapter 7, 11 or 13 case.

Data from the Summary of Schedules (form 6), must be recorded on this page. Record totals only from schedules A, B, D, E, F, I, J, Form 22, and the Total Type of Liability (form 6).

Note: The type of liability total can be found on the Statistical Summary of Certain Liabilities and Related form (page 2 of summary of schedules).

If the Summary of Schedules is not filed with the petition, leave all fields blank

14. Click Next

The PDF Document selection screen will display.

15. Attach the document
    • Click Browse button and navigate to locate the petition
    • Highlight filename Right-click on filename Select Open Review document Close windowView file to confirm the correct file is being selected
    • Click Open and the filename will appear in the browse window
    • Click Next

The US Trustee Statistical page will display for individual debtors filing a Chapter 7, 11, 12 or 13 case.

16. Complete the Fields and click Next

The fee amount will display.

17. Click Next twice

The Final Text screen will display.

18. Verify the accuracy of the docket. If not correct, click Bankruptcy to start over/If correct
19. Click Next to submit the filing

Judge/Trustee Assignment

20. Select one of the two options:

• Run Judge/Trustee - this option will assign the judge, trustee and 341 meeting date/time/location
• After the assignment is complete, click the X in the upper right corner to close the window

• Continue Filing - this option allows you to continue filing cases or documents without assigning the judge, trustee and 341 meeting date/time/location.
• If you select this option, please remember to select Bankruptcy>Run Judge/Trustee Assignment to assign the judge, trustee and 341 meeting date/time/location for all cases filed

Electronic Payment

18. Select one of the two options:

• Pay Now - this option allows you to make the payment and the end of the filing process

• Continue Filing - this option allows you to continue filing cases or documents and paying the fee at the end of your filings.
• If you select this option, please remember to select Utilities>Internet Payments Due and process all outstanding payments due

Notice of Electronic Filing will display.

It is the verification that the filing has been sent electronically to the court.

Copies of this notice and the document filed are emailed to all participants who receive electronic notification in the case. You have a period of 15 days for a one time free look at the document filed.

Complete the following additional filings that apply to your case

• Upload list of creditors file (required for all cases)
• Related Cases - Certification of Relatedness
• Statement of Social Security Number (B 21)[Required if debtor is an individual. MUST be filed WITH the petition. Fed. R. Bankr. P. 1007(f)]

• Chapter 13 Cases - Chapter 13 Plan
• Chapter 11 Cases - Chapter 11 Plan - Only IF you indicated that a Plan was included with the opening of the chapter 11 case - refer to step 5
• Declaration Regarding Electronic Filing Petition and Accompanying Documents - This document MUST be filed and should appear as the last docket entry for your case. (required for all cases)