Chapter VI

Petitions, Schedules, and Forms: Understanding the Many Documents of a Bankruptcy Case

Petition and Schedules

The Petition and Schedules can range in length between 12 and 65 pages. Shorter Petitions with empty Schedules are commonly called “skeleton” petitions. They’re bare bones. Skeleton Petitions are usually filed when a debtor is in a rush to file because of an immediate deadline, or in rare cases of abuse where the debtor does not intend to follow through with the bankruptcy, but merely interfere with creditors. These must be amended and completed within a certain deadline set by the bankruptcy court or the case will be dismissed.

We’ll look at a Petition and Schedules used by a small family business. The business was a “sole ...

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