The bankruptcy petition signing is an important part of the process. This is your opportunity to review the petition and schedules to verify that everything is true and correct to the best of your knowledge. Signing the petition verifies the information under penalty of perjury. In other words, lying on your bankruptcy petition is a crime.
Despite the fact that we are living in a digital world, we are unaware of any trustee or judge that allows for electronic signatures. The bankruptcy petition signing allows us to obtain your “wet signature” for our records.
How long does the bankruptcy petition signing take?
This process takes about an hour. We use the opportunity to not only review the documents, but also to answer any other questions you may have about the process. This is the last step in the process before we file your bankruptcy petition so we want to make sure that all of your questions are answered. In many cases, filing bankruptcy is like rolling a ball down a hill. It’s easy to start and difficult to impossible to stop. We need to be sure that you are prepared for the process.
What do we review at the bankruptcy petition signing?
We will review anything that requires your signature. This includes the bankruptcy petition, schedules, and statements. We will walk through every portion of the petition, schedules, and statements with you – line by line – to make sure the information is accurate. You will need to sign every document verify its accuracy.
Chapter 7 Bankruptcy
If you are filing a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, we will also use the time to discuss what happens after filing a Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition and what happens at a Chapter 7 341 meeting of creditors. We will also want to discuss issues specific to your situation. For example, if you are looking for a vehicle replacement loan or intend to redeem your vehicle, we will discuss the procedures.
Chapter 13 Bankruptcy
If you are filing a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, we will also use the time to discuss what happens after filing a Chapter 13 bankruptcy petition and what happens at a Chapter 13 341 meeting of creditors. We will also discuss your Chapter 13 plan and how to make the Chapter 13 plan payments.
Does the bankruptcy petition signing need to be in person?
We do our best to accommodate you. Most of our clients prefer to meet in person; however, sometimes that is not possible. In those cases, we will typically schedule a Zoom meeting. This allows us to review the documents on a shared screen with you. You can either print the documents for signing or we can mail you a copy with a return envelope. While we don’t need to meet in person, we still need the signed petition before we can file it with the court.
