Bankruptcy Forms Online - Free Filable Official Forms Online

How to fill in a bankruptcy form

Trying to accomplish anything in the court system means mounds of paperwork, and there are a number of bankruptcy forms that must be submitted to get the ball rolling. To obtain the requisite forms, you may write your local bankruptcy court and request a copy, or you may ask for them in person. But the easiest way is to download them off the Internet.

However, don't just sign up with any online supplier - there are a number of so-called 'online filing services' that claim to offer the full set of bankruptcy forms for a price. Ignore these suppliers when you can get the complete set of official bankruptcy forms free from the U.S. government at www.uscourts.gov.

These forms are available online in PDF format and include the two part Bankruptcy Forms Manual along with related links to helpful articles on bankruptcy, as supplied by the U.S. government's Web site. Part I of the manual contains the official bankruptcy forms and instructions on how to complete them, and Part II includes any additional and procedural forms with instructions.

The forms are quite detailed, each offering an introduction, instructions and guidelines to the laws and rules.

The general idea of the forms are to record a complete listing of your property and financial history. Prepare to supply a thorough listing of all of your property, a record of your current income and its origins, an explanation of your monthly living expenditures including utilities, groceries and transportation, a complete financial statement of your debts, any property you want to claim exempt (some states allow those filing bankruptcy to keep certain furnishings, clothes, sometimes even houses), a list of funds spent over the last two years, and a compilation of property owned, sold or given away over the last two years.

Although these forms make up the body of the bankruptcy paperwork, there are usually additional forms that are required by your local court.

Be sure that you contact your local bankruptcy court to inquire about any extra forms. For example, the number of forms sometimes varies for the type of bankruptcy you plan to pursue; a basic Chapter 7 bankruptcy demands the regular two page petition and several forms. But filing Chapter 13 requires, in addition to the Chapter 7 paperwork, a written plan detailing exactly how you propose to repay your debts.