How to Prepare to File - What you are required to do?

To prepare to file your bankruptcy, there are certain specific things you must provide the Court and the Trustee who is assigned to your case within a certain period of time. Also, you will be required to complete a Consumer Credit Counseling session before you can file. This will take approximately 30 minutes to one hour to complete. Your attorney will provide instructions about how to complete the course.

Before your case can be filed, at a minimum, you must provide your attorney the following information

• Your total income for the past 6 months

• All of your bills including all mortgage statements

• A list of your monthly expenses

• A list of your real property with addresses and estimated values

• A list of your personal property with estimated values considering their used condition

• Social Security Card

• Driver's License/Washington Identification/Passport

With this information, an emergency filing can be made if needed to stop a collection action or foreclosure. However, the remaining bankruptcy schedules must be completed and filed within two weeks of the date of your filing. So the bankruptcy questionnaire must be filed out completely and given your attorney within one week after your case is filed. Click Here to Download the Bankruptcy Questionnaire.

The following must be provided to your attorney within 2 weeks after your case is filed, which will be forwarded to your 

Trustee who reviews your filing

• Last filed tax return

• Statements from all of your financial accounts (bank accounts, savings accounts, investment accounts, money market accounts. (You may have to go to your bank to get a printout of your statements that include the balance of the account on the date your case was filed.)

• Pay stubs for the past 90 days, or a year-to-date profit and loss statement if you are self-employed

If you do not provide this information on time, the Trustee may move to dismiss your case.

Once you have attended your Meeting of Creditors, you have 45 days to complete your 2 hour pre-discharge financial education course. If you do not complete the course in time, the Court will close your case without discharging your debts.

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