On December 1, 2015, the bankruptcy court system will start using a new set of forms, designed to be more user friendly to those debtors who don't use a lawyer.
For the first time ever, the forms come with a set of instructions on how to fill them out!
And the forms are intended to be more plain english and easier to understand.
The new forms are bound to cause some confusion at first, but in the long run, will probably make it somewhat easier to for people to handle their own bankruptcy without screwing up as much. But that remains to be seen.
The instructions are 45 pages long. There are still many many pages of forms to fill out. For some people, a task this daunting calls for assistance, even if it's for a review of what you've prepared.
The government has published a table of old form numbers to new ones.
Original Form Number |
Original Form Name |
12.1.2015 Number |
12.1.2015 Name |
---|---|---|---|
B1 |
Voluntary Petition |
B 101 |
Voluntary Petition for Individuals Filing for Bankruptcy (incorporates exhibits – carves out eviction judgment statement as new form B 101A and B) |
B 101A |
Initial Statement About an Eviction Judgment Against You |
||
B 101B |
Statement About Payment of an Eviction Judgment Against You |
||
B 201 |
VoluntaryPetitionforNon-Individuals Filing for Bankruptcy |
||
Exhibit A |
B 201A |
Attachment to Voluntary Petition for Non-Individuals Filing for Bankruptcy Under Chapter 11 |
|
Exhibit C |
B 101 B 201 |
Hazardous Property or Property That Needs Immediate Attention -- incorporated in Forms B 101 and B 201 |
|
Exhibit D |
B 101 |
Individual Debtor’s Statement of Compliance with Credit Counseling Requirement – Incorporated in Form B 101 |
|
[Chapter 15 questions from Petition] |
B 401 |
Petition for Recognition of Foreign Proceeding |
|
B2 |
Declaration under Penalty of Perjury on Behalf of a Corporation or Partnership |
B 202 |
Declaration Under Penalty of Perjury for Non- Individual Debtors (For petition, schedules, SOFA, etc). |
B 3A |
Application and Order to Pay Filing Fee in Installments |
B 103A |
Application for Individuals to Pay the Filing Fee in Installments |
B 3B |
Application for Waiver of Chapter 7 Filing |
B 103B |
Application to Have the Chapter 7 Filing Fee Waived |