The protections and benefits of bankruptcy are vast. The tradeoff to receiving these benefits is that you must disclose your financial life in your bankruptcy petition.
Financial Information You Must Disclose
You must disclose your income, expenses, debts, assets, and recent transfers of property or assets of value. All of this financial information must be included in your bankruptcy schedules.
- Income: You must disclose all sources of income, including wages from a job, income from a business, and income from selling items like on eBay or Etsy.
- Expenses: You must disclose all of your monthly expenses, including mortgage or rent payments, car payments, utilities, cable, phone, children’s extracurricular activities, entertainment expenses, health care costs, etc. Your bankruptcy paperwork must also include a schedule of your income minus expenses.
- Debts: Your bankruptcy schedules must include a list of your liabilities, which are all of the debts you owe to every creditor. You cannot pick and choose which creditors to include in your bankruptcy paperwork.
- Assets: Your bankruptcy schedules must include a complete list of your assets along with the value of those assets, including your house, car, bank accounts, and other personal belongings. Even though all assets must be disclosed, most people get to keep most or all of their assets and belongings through bankruptcy.
There are other mandatory disclosures that must be made in your bankruptcy paperwork, such as transfers of real property made in the last two years, transfers of other valuable assets, and certain other recent financial transactions.
When you file for bankruptcy protection, it is important to be prepared, to be honest about your financial life. Your bankruptcy petition and schedules will be filed with the United States Bankruptcy Court under the penalty of perjury. Committing perjury in a bankruptcy case is a federal crime. Punishment for bankruptcy crimes can include fines up to $250,000 and/or a prison sentence of 5 years.
When you work with The Law Offices of Barbara B. Braziel we will ask you the right questions to help ensure that your bankruptcy schedules are complete and accurate. Together we will work through the paperwork that must be filed with the Bankruptcy Court. Our experienced bankruptcy attorneys are committed to making the filing process as smooth as possible for all of our clients.
We offer free consultations to people in and around Savannah, GA. Please reach out to us at (912) 351-9000 or email us.
Find out more about Bankruptcy in our guide: All About Bankruptcy.
We are a debt relief agency. We help people file for bankruptcy relief under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.