While we may generally refer to the entire series of documents we file with the Court as your “Petition”, there is technically a form called the Voluntary Petition (Official Form 1). For purposes of this series and to cut down on confusion, I’ll call it Form 1.
Form 1 is three pages, and is sort of like the data sheet for your case. It lists things like your name and address, and what chapter of the Bankruptcy Code you are filing. It also lists an estimate of the number of creditors you have (creditors are the people you owe), an estimate of the value of your assets (assets are the stuff you have), and an estimate of your liabilities (the bills you owe). There are also several check boxes that are filled in based on your situation to tell the court different things, as well as let the court know that you’ve completed your credit counseling and you’ve lived here long enough to file in this court. Additionally, if you’ve filed bankruptcy before, or if you have a spouse or cosigner in a bankruptcy, then their case information will also be listed on these pages.
Form 1 also contains places where you and your attorney sign saying that everything is correct under penalty of perjury. You’ll see over the course of this series that there are lots of places you have to sign, and it’s all under penalty of perjury. Wondering what happens if you don’t tell the truth? See my article here on that.
Here’s a look at what Form 1 looks like:
Attorney Alissa Gay 