Bankruptcy schedules, filed with the bankruptcy petition, each focus on one aspect of the filer’s personal finances. There are 10 schedules, each designated with a letter, from A through J.
Schedule A – Real Estate
Schedule A requires listing of all real estate owned on the date of filing. This is obvious with respect to a home, if the property is owned. But, schedule A requires listing of all interests in real estate. For example, many timeshares come with a deeded interest. This must be listed on Schedule A. Other examples include real estate anywhere on the planet and real estate owned jointly with others. The value of the property on the date of filing is scheduled, as well as the amount of secured claims, usually the mortgage or mortgages.
Schedule B – Personal Property
Schedule B lists many categories of all other property besides real estate. There is a category for other. A 401K or other ERISA type retirement savings plan must be listed here even though you may state “not in bankruptcy estate”. All bank accounts, jewelry, collections, and other property such as your investment portfolios that you’ve built up with your Broker zum Trading must be listed on this schedule, with the value as of the date of filing listed. Motor vehicles are scheduled under item 25.
Schedule C – Property Claimed as Exempt
Schedule C looks back at each piece of property listed on A and B and claims exemptions. Bankruptcy is federal law. But, each state has its own exemption law. Some states allow use of federal exemptions. If any property is not exempt a chapter 7 trustee can administer it. That, potentially, means take and sell or require you to pay cash value to keep.
Schedule D – Creditors Holding Secured Claims
This is your mortgage company, the car loan company and any other lender that has the right to repossess property if the loan goes into default. Listed here are name and address of the lender, date the loan originated, total amount outstanding, and any unsecured portion remaining on the house, car or other collateral above the value of the loan.
Schedule E – Creditors Holding Unsecured Priority Claims
Priority claims include domestic support obligations, any wages that you, as an employer might owe to employees, taxes and certain other debts owed to the government. Other priority claims include any judgment against you for injuries or death caused by intoxication and security deposits that you may hold for folks such as tenants.
Schedule F – Creditors Holding Unsecured Nonpriority Claims
All unsecured debt goes here. For the most part, this is credit card debt. But, debtors must also list all outstanding medical bills, bills for magazine subscriptions, that stuff you purchased on TV, personal loans that you received from friends, relatives or anyone else and all other debts that are not secured like a house or car. The schedule includes name, correspondence mailing address that has been given on any piece of mail from the creditor in the 60 days before filing, and the amount due. Only give the last four actual digits of the account number. The rest is “redacted” or left out.
Schedule G – Executory Contracts and Unexpired Leases
Schedule G must list all contracts under which you are obligated on the date of filing your petition, including any car or cars that you lease. Cell phone contracts are listed here. Whether you are a tenant or landlord, leases under which you are obligated on the date of filing the petition must be listed on this schedule. In a phrase or two, describe the nature of the contract.
Schedule H – Codebtors
This schedule requires that you provide the name and address of any person or entity, other than a spouse in a joint case, that is also liable on any debts listed in the schedules of creditors. Common codebtors are parents, boy and girlfriends, ex girl and boyfriends, and others the debtor has been able to get to cosign on a loan. These folks must be listed on this schedule, also giving the name and address of the creditor on this loan.
Schedule I – Current Income of Individual Debtor(s)
This schedule lists current income, and importantly, prospective income after the filing of the petition. The numbers are averaged out on a monthly basis and can be based on your income over the last year. However, if you have lost that employment, or if job loss is imminent, then Schedule I includes the income that you expect to receive over the next year. This is an estimate of average projected monthly income at the time the case is filed. If in doubt, likely changes are explained in a data field at the bottom of Schedule I.
Schedule J – Current Expenditures of Individual Debtor(s)
Here, the average or projected monthly expenses of the debtor and the debtor’s family are listed. List everything by category including rent or mortgage payments, all bills, insurance, and things like clothing, food and charity. Everything you spend on an annual basis divided by 12. Stated a different way, everything you spend each week multiplied by 4.33, because the average month has that many weeks. At the bottom of “J” you enter your average monthly income from schedule “I”, then subtract the total expenses from schedule “J”, and this result, your “monthly net income” is one of the more important numers on the petition.
Bankruptcy Schedules – Only One Category of all Required Documents
Bankruptcy schedules A – J form the backbone of a bankruptcy filing. But, many other vital documents make up the complete filing. All must be completed fully and accurately. Bankruptcy requires complete disclosure of all assets, income and debt. It is highly advisable to obtain an experienced bankruptcy attorney in your jurisdiction to assist.
I’m licensed in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. Elsewhere, I recommend going to the National Association of Consumer Bankrupty Attorneys and using the NACBA attorney locator.
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