Law Office of Rick Morin, PC

Have you ever wondered how to amend your bankruptcy case? Read on to learn more about this important subject.

Bankruptcy Amendments

From time to time you may need to amend your bankruptcy case. You may have forgotten about a creditor or failed to list an asset. Perhaps your bankruptcy trustee has pointed out an error in your paperwork. In any event, bankruptcy amendments allow you to fix or supplement your bankrutpcy documents.

Do not rely on bankruptcy amendments to fix sloppy mistakes. In fact, you must sign bankruptcy paperwork under penalty of perjury. Criminal prosecution is possible for providing false or misleading information on bankruptcy paperwork!

How to Amend a Bankruptcy

The first question is a simple one: is your bankruptcy case still open? If your bankruptcy case is closed, you cannot amend your paperwork. You should contact an attorney if you think that you need to amend your bankruptcy and your case is closed. In fact, the rules here are tricky.

Assuming your case is still open, you can move forward with an amendment.

The basic steps to amend a bankruptcy form or schedule are:

1. Prepare the amended document.
2. Fill out the amendment cover sheet.
3. Draft a proof of service.
4. Serve the amendment paperwork on the United States Trustee, your Bankruptcy Trustee, and any affected creditors.
5. File the amendment, cover sheet, and signed proof of service with the clerk of the bankruptcy court.

The bankruptcy court’s website houses the form you will need for the amendment cover sheet.

Don’t Wait to Amend Your Bankruptcy

As discussed above, you can only amend your bankruptcy when your case is still open. If you wait too long, you will not need to make any changes to your bankruptcy.

And remember, bankruptcy is a process that requires full and complete disclosure. Failing to disclose information can be a crime in bankruptcy. Waiting to long to amend your bankruptcy might lead the bankruptcy court to believe that you were not making the required disclosures.

Thinking about declaring bankruptcy in the Sacramento area? Contact my office at (916) 333-2222 to schedule a consultation to see if bankruptcy is right for you.