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if you checked any of the priority debt boxes, make as many photocopies of the continuation page as the number of priority debt boxes you checked. you will need to complete a separate sheet for each type of priority debt, as follows:
In re and Case No. Follow the instructions for schedule a.
Type of Priority. insert the category for one of the boxes you checked (for example, “domestic support obligations”).
Creditor’s Name and Mailing Address, Including Zip Code and Account Number. list the name and complete mailing address (including zip code) of each priority creditor, as well as the account number, if you know it.
the address should be the one provided by the creditor in two written communications you have received from the creditor within the past 90 days, if possible. you may have more than one priority creditor for a given debt. For example, if you’ve been sued or hounded by a collection agency, list the collection agency in addition to the original creditor.
Codebtor. if someone else can be legally forced to pay your debt to a priority creditor, enter an “X” in this column and list the codebtor in the creditor column of this schedule. you’ll also need to list the codebtor as a creditor in schedule F and schedule h. Common codebtors are listed in the instructions for schedule d.
Husband, Wife, Joint, or Community. Follow the instructions for schedule a.
Date Claim Was Incurred and Consideration for Claim.
state the date you incurred the debt—this may be a specific date or a period of time. also briefly state what the debt is for. For example, “goods purchased,” “hours worked for me,” or “deposit for my services.”
Contingent, Unliquidated, Disputed. Follow the instructions for schedule d.
Amount of Claim. For each priority debt other than taxes, list the amount it would take to pay off the debt in full, even if it’s more than the priority limit. For taxes, list only the amount that is unsecured (and therefore a priority). you should list the secured amount on schedule d. if the amount isn’t determined, write “not yet determined” in this column.
Amount Entitled to Priority. if the priority claim is larger than the maximum indicated on the first page of schedule e (for example, $10,950 of wages owed to
each employee), put the maximum here. if the claim is less than the maximum, put the amount you entered in the total amount of Claim column here.
Amount Not Entitled to Priority, If Any. list any portion of the debt that is not entitled to priority here.
For example, if you owe an employee $15,000 in wages, only the first $10,950 is entitled to priority. that amount should be listed in the “amount entitled to Priority” column; here, you would list the remaining
$4,050.
Subtotal/Total. at the bottom of each continuation page, list the subtotals of the “amount of Claim,”
“amount entitled to Priority,” and “amount not entitled to Priority, if any” columns. enter the total amounts for each of these categories on the final page of schedule e.
Schedule F—Creditors Holding Unsecured
inadvertent errors or omissions on this schedule can come back to haunt you. if you don’t list a debt you owe to a creditor, it might not be discharged in bankruptcy if your estate has assets that are distributed to your other creditors by the trustee, or if the creditor is otherwise prejudiced by being left out (although it is sometimes possible in these circumstances to reopen the bankruptcy and include the creditor). also, leaving a creditor off the schedule might raise suspicions that you deliberately concealed information, perhaps to give that creditor preferential treatment in violation of bankruptcy rules.
Below are a sample completed schedule F and line-by-line instructions. use as many preprinted continuation pages as you need.
In re and Case No. Follow the instructions for schedule a.
Check this box if debtor has no creditors holding unsecured claims to report on this Schedule F. Check this box if you have no unsecured nonpriority debts. this would be very rare.
Creditor’s Name and Mailing Address, Including Zip Code and Account Number. list, preferably in alphabetical order, the name and complete mailing address of each unsecured creditor, as well as the account number (if you know it). if you have more than one unsecured creditor for a given debt, list the original creditor first, followed by the other creditors.
For example, for a particular debt, you might have the name, address, and account number for the original creditor, a collection agency run by the original
creditor, an independent collection agency, an attorney debt collector, and an attorney who has sued you.
it’s best to list all the creditors, because it never hurts to be thorough. But you could omit the intermediate collectors and just list the original creditor and the latest collector or attorney. or, if you no longer have contact information for the original creditor, listing the latest collector will do
when you are typing your final papers, if you get to the end and discover that you left a creditor off, don’t start all over again in search of perfect alphabetical order. just add the creditor to the end of the list.
Creditors That Are Often Overlooked
One debt may involve several different creditors.
Remember to include:
• your ex-spouse, if you are still obligated under a divorce decree or settlement agreement to pay joint debts, turn any property over to your ex, or make payments as part of your property division
• anyone who has cosigned a promissory note or loan application you signed
• any holder of a loan or promissory note that you cosigned for someone else
• the original creditor, anybody to whom the debt has been assigned or sold, and any other person (such as a bill collector or attorney) trying to collect the debt, and
• anyone who may sue you because of a car accident, business dispute, or the like.
Codebtor. if someone else can be legally forced to pay your debt to a listed unsecured creditor, enter an
“X” in this column and list the codebtor as a creditor in this schedule. also, list the codebtor in schedule h. the instructions for schedule d list common codebtors.
Husband, Wife, Joint, or Community. Follow the instructions for schedule a.
Date Claim Was Incurred and Consideration for Claim.
If Claim Is Subject to Setoff, So State. state when the debt was incurred. it may be one date or a period of time. with credit card debts, put the approximate time over which you ran up the charges, unless the unpaid charges were made on one or two specific dates.
then state what the debt was for. you can be general (“clothes” or “household furnishings”) or specific (“refrigerator” or “teeth capping”).
if you are entitled to a setoff against the debt—that is, the creditor owes you some money, too—list the amount and why you think you are entitled to the setoff. if there is more than one creditor for a single debt, put ditto marks (") in this column for the subsequent creditors.
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CHAPTER 6: COMPLETE AND FILE YOUR BANKRUPTCY PAPERWORK 167
Contingent, Unliquidated, Disputed. Follow the instructions for schedule d.
Amount of Claim. list the amount of the debt claimed by the creditor, even if you dispute the amount. that way, it will all be wiped out if it’s dischargeable. if there’s more than one creditor for a single debt, put the debt amount across from the original creditor and put ditto marks (") across from each subsequent creditor you have listed. Be as precise as possible when stating the amount. if you must approximate, write “approx.”
after the amount.
Subtotal/Total. total the amounts in the last column for this page. do not include the amounts represented by the ditto marks if you listed multiple creditors for a single debt. on the final page (which may be the first page or a preprinted continuation page), enter the total of all unsecured, nonpriority claims. on the first page in the bottom left-hand corner, note the number of continuation pages you are attaching.