Chapter 12 Filing Requirements

All petitions and schedules must be accompanied by the filing fee, or individual debtors may file an application to pay the filing fee in installments. Petitions will not be accepted without one or the other. Filing fees must be paid either by cash, cashier's check, money order, or an attorney's firm check, made payable to "Clerk, U.S. Bankruptcy Court." Do not tender cash for petitions submitted by mail. CHECKS FROM DEBTORS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED.

The petition page must include the redacted social security number(s) and county in which the debtor resides. The full social security number should be provided on Form 21. Schedule D must include full recording data: page and document numbers, date and place of recording, or state "unrecorded" - attach separate page if necessary. PRO SE DEBTORS: Include day-time phone number under signature. Papers must be collated into sets and arranged in order as listed below.

Effective May 1, 2003, Local Rule 1007-1-2 was amended by deleting subsection (d). Non-debtor spouse information should be reported on Schedule H and should include name, social security number, tax id number, mailing address, and all other names used by the non-debtor spouse within six years before filing the petition.

Petitions and schedules can be found on our forms page or they may be downloaded from the U.S. Court's website. Form sets can be purchased from an office supply store that sells legal forms.