1. Evaluate your financial situation and determine whether a Chapter 13 bankruptcy is in your best interest. Chapter 13 bankruptcy is an alternative to Chapter 7 bankruptcy, it is for individuals who have a regular income and who want to pay off their debts over time. In a Chapter 13 bankruptcy the individual will repay their creditors over the course of three to five years. To qualify for a Chapter 13 bankruptcy your secured and unsecured debts must be below a certain amount.  An attorney can help you understand if this applies to you.

2. Have petition filed by yourself or your attorney. Once your petition is filed by you or your attorney, an automatic stay is in place which stops actions like garnishments, foreclosures, and creditor harassment. The Chapter 13 bankruptcy petition must include: a) Credit counseling certificate b) Schedule of assets and liabilities c) Schedule of current income and expenditures d) Schedule of executory contracts and unexpired lease e) Statement of financial affairs f) Debt repayment plan g) Sixty days of pay advices h) Statement of monthly income

3. Most recent taxes must be sent to the trustee appointed by the court.

4. Pay all court fees.

5. Attend the Meeting of Creditors. After filing a day and time will be scheduled for the meeting of creditors, this is usually twenty to thirty days after the date of filing. At this hearing you will meet with the trustee to go over your filed petition and if any creditors are present you will be able to explain your financial situation. The meeting of creditors is usually short, taking about ten to fifteen minutes.  This is one of the best places to have your attorney as it will keep you from sabotaging the bankruptcy process.

6. Attend the Confirmation Hearing. At this hearing a bankruptcy judge will determine if your repayment plan meets bankruptcy code standards and if the plan is feasible. Creditors can object to the confirmation of your plan.  A bankruptcy attorney will help make sure it does meet the standards before seeing the judge.

7. You must begin making your payments to the trustee thirty days after you file the repayment plan. You must do this even if the plan has not yet been confirmed. If the plan is not confirmed you can modify it or convert your Chapter 13 bankruptcy into a Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

8. Debtor Education- You will need to complete a debtor education/financial management course once the plan is confirmed. You attorney can point you to the proper facility to complete this required course.

As you can see, there are a lots of steps to go through when filing a Chapter 13 bankruptcy in Denver.  Why not call for a free consultation with one of our skilled attorneys to get started with #1?

Student loans are a non-dischargeable debt, which means that filing bankruptcy will not eliminate this debt. It may be possible to discharge student loans if you can prove that paying your student loan imposes an undue hardship on you and your family living here in Denver, Colorado.

As an attorney, we realize it is very difficult to show undue hardship unless you are physically unable to work and will have no opportunity for employment in the future. This applies to private as well as federal student loans.

A Chapter 13 bankruptcy allows a person to consolidate their student loans with their other debt and make payments into a plan for three to five years. To do this in Denver, a person must have a steady income with disposable income and meet the guidelines of secured and unsecured debt. After the life of the repayment plan you will continue to be responsible for the amount still owed on your student loans.

Student loan lenders often offer different repayment alternatives. Contact your lender and see if a repayment plan is possible where the loan is stretched out over a longer period of time to bring down your monthly payments or if you can make graduated payments which increase as your income increases. Deferment of payments would allow you to stop making payments for a set time to give you a chance to improve your financial situation. Another option would be to consolidate your student loans into one loan to be paid over a longer period of time and often times at a lower interest rate. Do you have an attorney in Denver to work with?  If not, please contact one of our attorneys right away to help you out.

This will seem like a lot, but that’s why you can hire us!  According to the Colorado Bankruptcy Court, here is what will be needed!

1. Voluntary petition – Form 1 (01/08) and any necessary exhibits required by the Form.
2. T.L.B.F. 1002-1 Cover Sheet
3. Statement of Financial Affairs – Form 7 (12/07)
4. Summary of Schedules A-J – Form 6-Summary (12/07)
5. Schedules A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, and J – Forms 6A through 6J (12/07)
6. Declaration Concerning Debtor’s Schedules – Form B6 (12/07)
7. Notice to Debtor by Non-Attorney Bankruptcy Petition Preparer – Form B19B (10/05) (submitted only if debtor used the services of a bankruptcy petition preparer)
8. For each debtor, copies of all payment advices, paycheck stubs, or other evidence of all salary, commissions or income received within 60 days before the bankruptcy case was filed, copied on 8 1/2 by 11 paper with the debtor’s first and last name printed on top of each page (and bankruptcy case number, if a number has been assigned); or, if applicable, complete T.L.B.F. 1007-1 (“Statement Concerning Payment Advices Due”) for each debtor.
9. Attorney Fee Disclosure Statement – L.B.F. 102.1
10. Verification of Creditors’ Matrix – L.B. Misc. Form List
11. Creditors’ Matrix (on a computer floppy disk or CD) (see attachment to Amended GPO-2001-7 for instructions).

Additional Items due from Individual Debtors:

• Social Security Number Statement – Form 21
• Statistical Summary of Certain Liabilities – Form 6- page 2 (12/07)
• Exhibit D Individual Debtor’s Statement of Compliance with Credit Counseling Requirement (Official Form 1 Exhibit D)
• Certificate of Credit Counseling showing that each debtor completed credit counseling from an approved counselor (see Question 12) sometime within the 180 days BEFORE they filed the case. If each debtor did not receive the counseling, then, each debtor must file a request with the voluntary petition that states sufficient facts to justify an extension of time to get counseling as listed in 11 U.S.C. § 109(h)(3) or a permanent exemption under Section 109(h)(4).
• Chapter 7 Individual Debtors:
  • Statement of Current Monthly Income and Means Test Calculation Form 22A (01/08)* (unless the nature of debts are from the operation of the debtor’s business)
  • Statement of Intention – Form B8 (10/05) (due thirty days post-petition) (the failure to comply with your stated intentions and file reaffirmation agreements or motions to redeem personal property that the debtor does not intend to surrender has ramifications beginning 45 days after the first scheduled meeting of creditors according to Section 362(h) of the Bankruptcy Code) (for more information on reaffirmation agreements, see Question 25)
  • Exhibit D,Individual Debtor’s Statement of Compliance with Credit Counseling Requirement (10/06)
  Chapter 11 Individual Debtors:
  • Statement of Current Monthly Income – Form 22B (01/08)*
  Chapter 13 Individual Debtors:
  • Statement of Current Monthly Income and Disposable Income Calculation – Form 22C (01/08)*
  • Plan – T.L.B.F. 3015-1 (must be filed no later than fifteen days post-petition)

Additional Items due from Chapter 11 debtors:

• List of Twenty Largest Creditors – Form B4 (10/05)
• List of Equity Interest Holders – Required by Fed.R.Bankr.P. 1007(a)(3)
• If the debtor is a corporation it should file a corporate ownership statement – Required by Fed.R.Bankr.P. 1007(a)(1) Small Business Debtors must file the most recent balance sheet, statements of operations, cash-flow statement and Federal income tax return; or a verified statement that those documents do not exist and have not been prepared or filed.