In order to determine if you qualify for a Chapter 7 filing, your attorney will need to know your income, the number of people in your household, your monthly expenses, your debts and a list of your assets. Ultimately the bankruptcy trustee will ask for two month worth of pay stubs; however, the means test is based upon your last 6 months of income, so you will need to provide 6 months of pay stubs to your attorney. If you plan to file in April, you will need to provide income information from October through March. If you are self employed, or a 1099 employee, plan on providing 12 months of income and expense information. You will also need to provide bank statements for the three months prior to filing, including the day of filing, insurance information for your car, home or apartment, copies of any lease or rental agreements, your 401k or IRA balances, and if you own a home, a copy of the deed and the recorded mortgage. The mortgage you received at closing is not the recorded mortgage, you will have to get a copy from the register of deeds in your county. In many counties, such as Kent County, you can get a copy of the recorded mortgage online. The reason you need to provide a copy of the recorded mortgage is to assure the trustee that the bank’s lien is valid. If the mortgage is not properly recorded, for instance, if the legal description is wrong, the trustee may ask the Bankruptcy Court to nullify the mortgage, in which case, your home would become part of the Bankruptcy Estate. If you plan on keeping your home, you want to make sure your attorney compares the deed to the property description on the mortgage.
If you go to the first meeting with your attorney, with all of these documents and information, he or she should be able to prepare your Chapter 7 petition quickly and you will be on your way to a fresh start.
