The Bankruptcy is commenced by the filing of a petition. The Petition is Official Form No. 1. A petition filed on behalf of a corporation must be filed by an attorney.
A List of Creditors must be filed with the petition. The list must include names and addresses of all creditors. Failure to list creditors or schedule a debt, or incorrectly listing a creditor’s name or address, may result in denial of discharge of debt.
A Schedule of the Debtor’s Assets and Liabilities, and a Schedule of Executory Contracts and Unexpired Leases should be filed with the petition but may be filed within fifteen days after the petition. These schedules include listings of property claimed as exempt.
A Statement of Financial Affairs, which is a questionnaire to be completed by the debtor, answers questions relating to the debtor’s financial history and previous transactions. This should be filed with the petition but may be delayed as with the schedules.
A Statement of (Current) Income and Expenditures must be filed.
Within the earlier of 30 days or the date of the § 341(a) meeting, individual Chapter 7 debtors whose schedule of assets and liabilities includes consumer debts secured by property of the estate must file a Statement of Intention Concerning the Collateral; e.g., redemption, or reaffirmation.
A filing fee is required.
Only a married couple can file a joint petition, although the court may order any cases administratively consolidated (for example, a parent corporation and its subsidiaries) (referred to as “jointly administered”). Courts may also order substantive consolidation, where the assets of two or more estates are combined for distribution to the creditors of both debtors.