Bankruptcy Forms for MIAMI, Florida, 33157

Florida Bankruptcy Law & Information   v.3.51

Bankruptcy Info for Miami,  FL

BANKRUPTCY :

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Chapter 13 filings require slightly different forms.

Bankruptcy Lawyers

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Free PDF Downloadable Bankruptcy Forms

Official PDF Downloads

The links below connect you to forms provided by the US Court system. All bankruptcy forms available for free as Adobe Acrobat (PDF) forms.

Finding Instructions for the Forms

Official instructions for most of the revised Official Bankruptcy Forms are not available because they are "under revision." It has been many months since these new forms were first published and there's no word on when the instructions will be available. Links to the revised instructions will be posted here as they are available. The only instructional text posted are the committee notes from the congressional committees that wrote the law creating these forms.
 

Help Topics

• Where to get bankruptcy forms for free
• Does the court supply instructions with the forms?
• What is PDF?
• What are "fillable" PDF forms?
• Where can I find fillable PDF forms for free?
• Where can I download Acrobat Reader?
• Free or low-cost tools for saving fillable PDFs
• Bankruptcy forms glossary
• How to get copies of your filed tax returns

Where can I get bankruptcy forms for free?

Your local court website will have a links to free copies of downloadable PDF files s of the federal and local forms.

The main site for federal foms can be found at http://www.uscourts.gov/bkforms/bankruptcy_forms.html#official

See also: What are fillable forms?

Does the court supply instructions with the bankruptcy forms?

Generally, no. Most forms do not come with instructions, and that's a shame. Much of the lingo used on these forms is difficult for non-lawyers to decipher.

Before the enactment of the new law, instructions were provided with most forms. Since the new law was passed, court websites have removed the instructions they used to provide, saying they are "under revision". This is unfortunate as most of the forms have not changed significantly, and the old instructions re more helpful than no instructions at all.

For up to date instructions, you can buy Nolo's book, How to File for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy. You'll not only get instructions for all forms, but also step by step guidance throughout the entire bankruptcy process.

What is PDF?

PDF stands for "Portable Document Format" which is a format created by the Adobe company and supported by their free Acrobat Reader. (Other companies also produce software that can create and read PDF files.)

PDF is also the format that lawyers use electronic filing.

See also, Where can I download Acrobat Reader?

What are "fillable" PDF forms?

The standard forms provided by most US Bankruptcy Courts are not "fillable" PDFs forms. All you can do is print the blank forms and fill them in by hand with a pen or typewriter. (A what?).

Your court is happy exeption. It provides links to forms which are of the fillable variety. Unfortunately, if you are using the free Acrobat Reader, you cannot save the information you have typed into these fillable forms. (If you own the full version of Adobe Acrobat -- which costs several hundred dollars -- you can save the info you have typed, and return to the form later.)

Fortunately, there are several, free or low-cost software tools for saving fillable PDFs. Some of these low cost products are rather bare-bones, when it comes to interface, but they work. That is, they do provide the option of saving the information you have typed.

Where can I find fillable bankruptcy PDF forms for free?

Fillable PDF forms allow you to type your answers into the forms.

Fortunately for you the Florida Southern District Bankruptcy Court is one of the few courts in the nation that provdes PDF bankruptcy forms that are of the fillable variety. Simply go to your court's website, where they list the forms, and you'll find fillable versions of the standard forms. Unfortunately, if you are using the free Acrobat Reader, you cannot save the information you have typed into these fillable forms. (If you own the full version of Adobe Acrobat -- which costs several hundred dollars -- you can save the info you have typed, and return to the form later.)

However, in a less obvious place, the US Trustee's Office also publishes fillable PDF versions of the Bankruptcy Forms. These fillable forms allow you to type your answers into the forms.

Where can I download Acrobat Reader?

Most courts inlcude a link for downloading the free Adobe Acrobat reader. You can download it here. (http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html)

If you are using fillable PDF forms, you may also want to get a free or low-cost tool for saving what you have typed into your form.

See, Free or low-cost tools for saving fillable PDFs.

Where can I find free or low-cost tools for saving what I type in fillable PDFs?

All official bankruptcy forms are available PDF forms, and fillable versions of the forms are available.

Unfortunately, the free Adobe Reader does not allow you to save the information you type in to fillable PDF forms. The full commercial version of Adobe Acrobat allows its users to save a PDF and the form field answers will remain entered within the form's fields. Users of the full version of Acrobat can save a form and its answers, close the form, and then return later to complete unanswered or incorrectly answered fields.

Adobe Acrobat ($299) (full program) which can be found at: www.adobe.com/acrofamily/main.htm

The following products let you actually save the data in your PDF file as fields.

PDFill, ($19.95) which can be found at: http://PDFill.com

CutePDF Filler, ($29.95) which can be found at: http://www.acrosoftware.com/Products/CutePDF/Filler.asp

FyTek PDF File Save, (free, recommended) which can be found at: http://www.fytek.com/products.php?pg=pdffilesave
This product allows Acrobat Reader users to save the content of completed forms using a work-around. Read the documentation that comes with this product to learn how to use it.

Other, products let you "print" to a PDF file but do not act as form-fillers:

pdfFactory, ($49.95) which can be found at: http://www.fineprint.com/products/pdffactory/index.html

pdf995, ($19.95) which can be found at: http://www.pdf995.com/

For Mac Users

A helpful LegalConsumer user sent along the following message about form-handling tools available for Mac users. We have not tested all of these options, but have no reason to assume they are inaccurate. As always, feel free email if you spot something that is incorrect.

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I couldn't help but notice that the tools listed don't include any options for those of us who are using Macs instead of PC's. Since I recently had to find out this information for myself, I wanted to send a summary in the hopes that you will find it useful and can add this information to your website.

Adobe's products are available for OS X as well as Windows. I believe that the prices are probably similar -- this is the one option I didn't really look into.

Apple's OS X has some good built-in functionality for dealing with pdf files, including the ability to save any printable output to a file in pdf format using an option available from a button on the lower left of the print dialog box. The print dialog box is used whenever the print command is used, from any application on the system, so a filled-in form can be intercepted via the print dialog box and saved to a pdf format file, instead.

There is also software for viewing pdf files, called "Preview". It will allow you to view files, fill in forms if they are set up as fillable versions, but sometimes there are incompatibilities -- for example, some of the currently available fill-in forms have 3 buttons at the bottom for "print" "save" and "clear", which appear to be able to be activated when clicked on, but they don't actually do what the label indicates they are going to do. I assume that when used on a PC, they work, but it could be that these are still works in progress. Preview will allow you to annotate a non-fillable pdf form with text that is overlaid, but it is not particularly easy to use this feature, and there are some good shareware programs available that make this process a whole lot easier to do.

Here is a list of the shareware applications that I looked at and my impressions of them:

PDF Pen and PDF Pen Pro by Smile On My Mac

www.smileonmymac.com

PDF Pen is $49.95 and can be used to fill in pdf forms, save them, print them etc.

PDF Pen Pro is $94.95, and can be used for all the above, plus you can create pdf files, including fill-in forms, that can be used on any platform.

The Pro version probably is unnecessary for most of your readers but it does contain some nice features and it is less costly than Acrobat. Both of these products appear to be very polished, professional and full featured applications. The main reason I personally chose a different product in the end was because I did not feel I could afford even as little as $30 extra for software, even though it was clear that I was going to have to find something to make the process of dealing with the forms a little easier, especially since, when I first started looking into this, the fill-in forms had not yet been made available.

FormMate by White Wolf Software (www.whitewolf.com) is a reasonable option if all you're going to do is fill in the forms, print them and sign them. It costs $20, and is easier to use than the other similar products I looked at. Plus, it will let you save frequently used items -- such as your name, for example -- which has turned out to be useful. In addition to my name, I have saved a text item that inserts an "X", another with "N/A", and so forth. My only complaint is that I don't think that the font size of the text that is inserted can be changed, but the size that is used is reasonable for filling in the documents.

These shareware applications can be downloaded from the author's websites as listed, and activated from the menu within the application. In all cases, a free trial is an option, but the demo product is limited in that it prints a watermark onto any document until a registration key is purchased and entered, so it can't be used except as a demo until it is unlocked with the reg. key.

There are a couple of other shareware packages available also, but they did not end up being particularly memorable, in my opinion, and so I have not included them here.

I hope this info will be useful to you and that you will add it for the many folks who use Macs. I appreciate the effort that has obviously gone into setting up this website. It's a good resource & I'm pleased to see things like this becoming available. There should be more people like you, committed to helping empower people with enough legal knowledge to act on their own behalf.

- CL,
LegalConsumer user

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Thanks for the info for Mac users, and the kind words, CL,
editor,
LegalConsumer.com

Glossary of Bankruptcy Terminology:

The U.S. Federal Bankruptcy Courts website, offers a fairly decent, plain-English glossary of bankruptcy terminology which can be helpful when reading local rules and forms.

How can I get copies of my filed tax returns?

From the IRS website:

If you need an exact copy of a previously filed and processed return and all attachments (including Form W-2 (PDF)), you must complete Form 4506 (PDF), Request for Copy of Tax Return and mail it to the IRS address in the instructions along with a $39 fee for each tax year requested. Copies are generally available for returns filed in the current and past 6 years.

In cases where an exact copy of the return is not needed, tax return and transcripts may be ordered. The tax return transcript shows most line items contained on the return as it was originally filed, including any accompanying forms and schedules. In most cases, a tax return transcript will meet the requirements for lending institutions for mortgage verification purposes.

The transcript can be ordered by completing a Form 4506-T (PDF) or calling (800) 829-1040 and following the prompts in the recorded message. There is no charge for the transcript and you should receive it in 10 business days from the time the IRS receives your request. Tax return transcripts are generally available for the current and past three years. If you need a statement of your tax account which shows changes that you or the IRS made after the original return was filed, you must request a "Tax Account Transcript". This transcript shows basic data including marital status, type of return filed, adjusted gross income, taxable income, payments and adjustments made on your account. Tax return and account transcripts are generally available for the current and past 3 years.

Form 4506-T (PDF) can also be used to get proof from the IRS that you did not file a tax return for a particular tax year.

Forms can be downloaded at Forms & Pubs or ordered by calling (800) 829-3676.