I need to file; What records do I need?

Now that you have decided that you both (1) need to file Bankruptcy, and (2) want to file, you probably want to start doing something productive towards that goal.  Therefore, go ahead and start gathering the following which you will need to provide to your Bankruptcy Attorney:

1. Last fiscal year's Federal and State Tax Returns and the associated W-2's.  If you don't have your returns then go to the IRS website and request a copy of your TAX Transcript.
2. Copies of your pay stubs for the last 6 months.  We do not count the month in which you plan to file, so if you're planning on filing in January, then December is month 1, November month 2, etc., up to #6.
3. Collect all of the bills that you are getting from your creditors.  The petition will list the creditors by Name, Address, Account Number and Amount.  A good way to capture the information is from the monthly statements or bills.
4. If you have a Whole Life Insurance Policy (meaning that it has cash value TODAY), then you will need to get a statement as to the current cash value of the policy.  If your insurance is through work, then typically it will be a Term Policy (meaning it simply provides a cash pay-out in the event of your death, but you cannot make a loan against its cash value).
5. If you own your home, you'll need a copy of a current mortgage statement.
6. If you have loans for your vehicles, go to the DMV website and obtain the VEHICLE Transcript for each vehicle (NOT your driver's transcript). 
7. If you have had any vehicles, homes or other property repossessed or liens placed against them then having the associated court documents handy will be helpful.

Organization is key!  To truly take advantage of the opportunities that Bankruptcy presents you means that you must take control of the process. Knowing what documents you have and where they are can go a long way towards simplifying the overall process and facilitating the discharge.  What I have found useful is a 1-2 inch 3-ring binder with dividers (Taxes; Pay Stubs; Bills; Car Info; House Info; Insurance; Questions for the Attorney; etc.).

Now that you are gathering together this information and providing some organization to it, it's time to get a better idea as to what is involved in this thing called Bankruptcy.  Before you actually meet or start interviewing prospective attorney's you'll want to have a better understanding of what the actual process is - we'll take the next several postings to talk about the process - what is actually involved in filing a Bankruptcy Petition.  Click over to my website and you'll see a comprehensive flowchart detailing the many steps involved.  Before we start peeling back what is involved in filing, there is one more bit of information that you need to know.

The next significant event after actually filing will be the Meeting of Creditors, or 341 Hearing.  We'll talk more about this later but for now just understand that it is a mandatory hearing at which you, and your spouse if they filed also, will be placed under oath and questioned by the Trustee.  This is not an interrogation, but primarily an informational hearing that the Trustee uses to clear up any outstanding issues and/or questions.  Right now, just know that you will need a Government issued photo ID card and your Social Security Card for identification purposes at the Hearing.  If you don't have your Social Security Card make sure that you tell your Attorney early on because there are alternatives!