Law Office of Rick Morin, PC

Every person that files for Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy is required to complete a post-petition personal financial management course. The course is about two hours long. Debtors typically take this course online. At my Bankruptcy Law Firm in Sacramento, there is no charge to take this post-petition course online.

Once you complete the course, the course provider will send my office a certificate of completion. You are then required to fill out Federal Bankruptcy Form B-23. This form certifies that you personally completed the course. I then file both documents with the Bankruptcy Court. This notifies the Bankruptcy Court that you have completed the requirement.

If a debtor does not take the course and file the appropriate certification forms with the Bankruptcy Court, the Court can dismiss the case. The Bankruptcy Court can even deny the debtor’s bankruptcy discharge. As you can see, it is important to complete this requirement within the time limits.

Starting December 1, bankruptcy rules will streamline this process.

Amended Federal Rule of Bankruptcy Procedure P. 1007(b)(7) will give an individual debtor the option of having an approved personal financial management course provider notify the court directly that the debtor has completed the course. If the course provider files the certification with the Bankruptcy Court, the debtor and the debtor’s attorney will not be required to take any additional action.

However, if the course provider does not file the certificate, the debtor and the debtor’s attorney will still be required to file the certificate with the Bankruptcy Court.

This new procedure will save time and money for both debtors and their attorneys. Having the course providers file the certificates will save an extra step that we currently have to go through for each and every case.

If you have any questions about bankruptcy procedures, please call Sacramento Bankruptcy Lawyer Rick Morin at (916) 333-2222.