Kansas Bankruptcy

Collect Your Kansas Bankruptcy Documents

Filing bankruptcy in Kansas requires quite a bit of legwork before you ever go to court. The good news about this is that you can do everything on your own time as you are getting ready to file your case. The more organized you are, the more in control you will feel once your Kansas bankruptcy case has been filed with the court. Collecting your bankruptcy documents early in the process is the first step to getting organized. Everyone filing bankruptcy in Kansas has to provide a copy of their most recent federal income tax return to their trustee after the case is filed, so that should be the first document to find and put in your bankruptcy folder. Since your income from last year won't really be indicative of what you are currently earning, you also need the paycheck stubs you have received in the last 6 months. In order to make sure you are providing the court with accurate addresses for all of your creditors, it's a good idea get a copy of your credit report from each one of the three credit reporting agencies. You can request all of them online or by contacting the agencies directly.

Take Credit Counseling

When the Bankruptcy Code was last amended, Congress included a provision requiring everyone filing bankruptcy in Kansas or elsewhere in the United States take a credit counseling class. This class takes about 1 - 2 hours to complete and can be taken online, over the phone, or in person. The providers specifically approved for Kansas bankruptcy cases that have in-person options have locations in Salina and Wichita (Consumer Credit Counseling Service, Inc.) as well as Lawrence and Topeka (Housing and Credit Counseling, Inc.). As long as the company you are using to complete this course is authorized to offer it to folks filing bankruptcy in Kansas, it does not matter which method you choose. There is a small cost associated with the course, so make sure to shop around to find a method and price that works for you. Once you have completed the course, you will receive a certificate of completion. The certificate is valid for 180 days which is perfect in light of the fact that you have to complete the course in the six months before your Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Kansas is filed.

Complete the Bankruptcy Forms

The bankruptcy forms are the documents everyone filing bankruptcy in Kansas has to submit to the court. If you are completing the forms on your own, you can get a full forms package for a Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Kansas from the court's website. Each one of the forms can also be downloaded for free as a standalone fillable PDF file. This part of the process tends to be the most tedious and takes the longest. If you are eligible to use Upsolve for your Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Kansas, we will prepare the forms for you based on the information you submit to us. If you hire a lawyer to help you, their office will prepare the forms. Regardless of how you complete the forms, you are the one that has to sign them before filing Chapter 7 in Kansas. That's why whether you are filling everything out yourself or with someone else's help, it's critically important to pay close attention to all of the questions and requests contained in the forms and, if you are doing it yourself, the form instructions. Ultimately, in your best interest to take your time and make sure all of the requested information is properly disclosed. After all, you only get one chance to make a first impression on the court and if it looks like you are hiding something, or have been careless in the execution of your duties as a debtor, the court does have the authority to withhold your discharge, eliminating the primary benefit of filing a Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Kansas.

Get Your Filing Fee

The fee to file Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Kansas is $338. If at all possible, you should plan on having the full amount ready in the form of a money order by the time your bankruptcy forms are completed, and your credit counseling has been done. You can purchase a money order from any U.S. Post Office near you. The court will only grant an application to waive the fee if your monthly income is not enough to pay the fee in installments even after filing bankruptcy in Kansas. If you are in a position where you have to file quickly and can't wait until you've had the chance to save up the full amount, you can ask the court for permission to make payments on the fee after your Kansas bankruptcy case has been filed. This makes sense if your paychecks are being garnished because it allows you to get the protection of the Bankruptcy Court right away, thereby stopping the garnishment. However, missing just one of the payments can result in your case being thrown out by the court, so make sure that stopping the garnishment will free up enough money each payday to make the payments to the court.

Print Your Bankruptcy Forms

If you are filing bankruptcy in Kansas without a lawyer ("pro se") you cannot use the court's electronic filing systems to submit your documents to the court. Instead, you have to provide everything on paper. If you hired a lawyer, they'll print out a copy of everything before filing your Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Kansas so you can review and sign all the required documents. If you are working with Upsolve, we'll send you a single file that you can print as-is. If you completed everything on your own, on the other hand, you will have to make sure you get all required documents printed and signed before submitting everything to the court. Unless you used the forms packet from the Kansas Bankruptcy Court, chances are you have everything saved on your computer as a separate file. In order to ensure that you are not accidentally duplicating one form and missing another one altogether, it's best to start by printing out a checklist listing all required forms first. Even though you are printing the documents for a legal purpose - filing bankruptcy in Kansas - don't worry about printing them on legal paper. All forms are designed to be printed on regular 8.5" x 11" paper, so any home or office printer will work.

Go to Court to File Your Forms

Even though you can technically file a Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Kansas by submitting all your forms by mail, it is best to take the time to bring everything to the court in person. This is especially true if it is important to get your case filed by a certain date as you won't be able to fix any errors or omissions on the spot the same way you might be able to if you are at the courthouse in person. The Kansas Bankruptcy Court has locations in Kansas City, Topeka, and Wichita and you can head to any one of them to file your Kansas bankruptcy documents. Make sure you have a valid picture ID with you when you head to the court, as it is required to gain entrance to the building. Once you have passed the security checkpoint at the entrance, make your way to the clerk's office as they are the ones that will assist you with filing bankruptcy in Kansas. If you printed a second copy of all your documents for your own records, you can bring it with you and get it stamped by the clerk once your Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Kansas has officially been filed.

Mail Documents to Your Trustee

The trustee is the person assigned by the court to handle your Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Kansas. As mentioned before, you have to provide a copy of your federal income tax return to the trustee at least 7 days before your 341 meeting. You will find out the name and contact information for your trustee, as well as the date set for your creditors' meeting shortly after filing Chapter 7 in Kansas when you receive the official notice from the court.

Since each one of the trustees operates independently, they all have a different system for doing their due diligence. That's why it is important to keep an eye out for a letter from your trustee after your Kansas bankruptcy has been filed, as they may request certain other information from you. Even though the trustee does not represent you, you both share a common goal: the orderly administration of your Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Kansas. That is why it's important to carefully review any correspondence you receive from the trustee assigned to your case. Other documents they may request from you include recent paycheck stubs, bank statements, and documentation about your assets, such as copies of your vehicle titles or mortgage documents.

Take Bankruptcy Course 2

In addition to adding the credit counseling requirement, Congress also added a requirement that everyone filing bankruptcy in Kansas take a debtor education course. This course can only be completed after your case has been filed. Instead of providing information about debt relief options, this course aims to educate people who are in a Kansas bankruptcy on how to responsibly manage their finances going forward. The idea is to set you up for the best possible financial future once you obtain your discharge. That is why you won't be eligible to have your discharge entered unless and until to complete the course. While there is no hard deadline take the course, if you haven't done so by the time the discharge is supposed to be entered, the court may close your case instead. The same companies that offer the prefiling course in-person also offer this financial management course in person. However, as before, you are also able to complete the course online or by phone. Once done, find out whether your provider will file a certificate of completion with the court in your Kansas bankruptcy case; if not, make sure you file this certification instead as that is the only way the court will know that you completed the course.

Attend Your 341 Meeting

The 341 meeting, or creditors' meeting as it is also called, is the one time everyone filing Chapter 7 in Kansas has to go to court. The primary purpose of this meeting is for the trustee that is handling your case to ask you certain questions in person and while you are under oath. This is also the time the trustee verifies that your name and social security number match the name and social security number on your bankruptcy documents. That's why it's important to make sure that you have two acceptable forms of identification when you go to your creditors' meeting. The meeting is called a creditors' meeting because technically your creditors may attend and ask you questions while you are under oath as well, but that rarely happens. The typical 341 meeting for a Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Kansas takes less than 10 minutes, including the ID check and the administration of the oath. If you are nervous, worried or stressed about the meeting, you shouldn't be. It's easy enough to prepare for the meeting and as long as you remember to take a deep breath and answer truthfully it will be over before you know it. Most people who file a Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Kansas walk away from the meeting surprised by how truly painless it was.

Dealing with Your Car

If you have a car loan you are still paying on when you file Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Kansas, your car will play two distinct roles in your case. First regardless of whether you owe money on it, your vehicle is an asset you own. The loan that is associated with your car is a secured debt. How you deal with the debt is up to you. You can either walk away completely and surrender the vehicle to the creditor. Your Kansas bankruptcy enables you to do that and your discharge protects you from having to pay the balance left on the loan. There is, of course, a couple of ways to deal with the loan that will allow you to keep the car instead. One such option utilized by a lot of people filing Chapter 7 in Kansas is entering into a reaffirmation agreement with the bank. This prevents your personal liability on the car loan from being discharged, but as long as you continue to make the payments as set forth in the reaffirmation agreement (the terms typically track the terms of the original loan, though every now and then a lender may agree to modify the terms in your favor as part of the reaffirmation process) you get to keep the car. Once the loan is paid off, you will own the vehicle free and clear as though you never filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Kansas.