What are the Bankruptcy Schedules used in Massachusetts Bankruptcy Court?
The bankruptcy schedules are similar to taxes (hence the heading above) but less fun, much less fun. Still, the bankruptcy schedules are the tool used to communicate your financial position to the court. Bankruptcy schedules are a complete list of assets, liabilities, income, and some other miscellaneous aspects of your financial life that your attorney will complete when filing for bankruptcy in Massachusetts.
Which Bankruptcy Schedule are you Looking for? Read More Below…..
The Bankruptcy Schedules
Schedule A/B – Your Assets
Schedule A/B is the form used to declared any property that you may own. In Schedule A/B you will list your home, what interest you have in the home and any other real estate you own.
Part 2 of Bankruptcy Schedule A/B also asks for a listing of any cars, trucks, or other motorized vehicles that you own. P
Part 3 of the Bankruptcy Schedule A/B requests a listing of all of your personal and household items: household goods and furnishings, electronics, collectibles, sports and hobby equipment, firearms, clothing, jewelry, non-farm animal, and other personal items.
You will also be required to report any petty or loose cash on hand, the amounts of money in your banking accounts, any bonds or stocks that you might hold as well as any ownership interest in a business.
Retirement accounts, security deposits (in a rental for example), annuities (life insurance and others), trusts, tax refunds, what you might receive in child support or alimony, your interest in an insurance policy, interests in a claim against a third party, and other assets will also be listed in bankruptcy Schedule A/B.
Will the Bankruptcy Court use My Assets Against Me?
You will likely qualify for many exemptions when filing for bankruptcy in Massachusetts. The Massachusetts bankruptcy court requires a bankruptcy petitioner to file a complete and thorough list of all assets because the court is going to base how to pay those to whom you owe money on your assets after applying exemptions or exclusions. Certain items, although listed in Schedule A/B will not be used by the Bankruptcy court to pay your creditors, or to base a repayment plan on. For example, most retirement accounts (although listed on the Bankruptcy Schedule A/B) are not considered part of your estate for bankruptcy purposes and will not be counted as an asset that can be used to payoff a creditor in liquidation bankruptcy (Chapter 7 bankruptcy).
It is important to note that failing to list assets can be viewed by the Massachusetts Bankruptcy Court as fraudulent behavior and may be the basis for the dismissal of a bankruptcy case.
Schedule C: Exempt Property
Schedule C of the bankruptcy schedules is the form that allows you to list assets and the value of assets which will likely be used to reduce the total value of your bankruptcy estate. In Massachusetts, the choice between which bankruptcy exemption scheme to use enters into the picture at this point. The bankruptcy attorney will be very helpful in choosing an exemption scheme, but essentially if you choose the federal scheme you will be listing exemption dollar amounts as per the Bankruptcy code for each type of property listed, if using the state and federal scheme, you get to choose a little of both.
Schedule D: Creditors with Claims Secured by Property
It is in this bankruptcy schedule, Schedule D, that all secured creditors are listed. For a review, secured creditors are those creditors who have collateral in return for money they have lent to you. The prime example of a secured creditor is a bank that has given you money to purchase a home in return for some ownership stake in your property; your home is their collateral. Car financing lenders, mortgage lenders, banks and others will be the sources listed as creditors in this section of the bankruptcy schedules.
Schedule E/F: Creditors with Unsecured Claims
This bankruptcy schedule is reserved for those lenders of property without collateral. The main example of an unsecured creditor being a credit card company. The bankruptcy Schedule E/F also includes domestic support obligations (child support, alimony), taxes and other debt owed to a government agency, claims for a death or personal injury while you were intoxicated, and others.
Schedule G, and H
Schedule G of the bankruptcy schedules is reserved for leases that have not expired and any executory contracts. Leases in this context are referring to a lease on a car, for example. Additionally, executory contracts refer to a contract that is ongoing. For example, you may be in a contract for any number of reasons and would list that reason and the name of the party to whom you are contracted in this part of the bankruptcy schedule.
Schedule H of the bankruptcy schedules is used to record those with whom you share debt. For example, your parent, friend, or spouse may be on a mortgage with you.
Schedule I: Income
Schedule I of the bankruptcy schedules is used to determine the amount of money you receive from all income sources. This amounts entered on this schedule are reduced by payroll deductions, including: taxes, Medicare, social security, retirement plan contributions, insurance, domestic support, union dues, and other types of deductions. Other income not including that from an employer might include money earned from rental property, operating a business, interest income, dividend income, family support payments received by you, unemployment compensation, social security, pension or retirement income, or other monthly income. The amounts listed in bankruptcy Schedule I will be totaled and the amounts listed in Bankruptcy Schedule J subtracted from that total.
Schedule J: Expenses
Schedule J is used to list all expenses, including: rental or home ownership expenses, other mortgage payments for residence, utilities, food, housekeeping supplies, childcare and educational costs, clothing expenses, personal care expenses, medical/dental expenses, transportation expenses, entertainment, charitable contributions, insurance, taxes, lease payments, alimony / maintenance or support payments.
Now That the Easy Part is Over…
Filling out the bankruptcy schedules is just part of the exercise of filing for bankruptcy in Massachusetts. Our attorney will complete this step for you, after you have provided answers to all of the questions designed to obtain this information. What happens next is a the formation of a strategy to determine if bankruptcy is the right choice for your particular financial circumstances, and if it is, which bankruptcy chapter should you file under. Please contact our office if you require any assistance in these matters.
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The information provided in the pages and posts of this website are for general informational purposes only. The information presented on this site is not legal advice, and no attorney-client relationship is formed by the use of this site.
