Our office frequently receives calls from former clients, and occasionally from a non-client former bankruptcy debtor asking about copies of petitions, copies of discharge orders or other bankruptcy papers.
If these documents are readily available to our staff, we are happy to email or mail them to you at minimal or no charge.
If the old bankruptcy documents pre-date the electronic filing era or if we do not have ready access to them, we will refer you to the National Archive for Bankruptcy Paperwork. Here is a link to the National Archive page that relates to Tennessee bankruptcy case filings.
As you will see, the National Archive can produce bankruptcy paperwork for cases less than 25 years old. The government will charge you $70 for a copy of the entire case, or $25 if you need a selected document such as a Discharge Order.
We advise all of our clients to keep copies of all bankruptcy paperwork – since these documents are produced by our firm and by the court in Adobe pdf format, they are easily stored on your hard drive or on a CD. We encourage you to make a backup copy as well. There is a strong likelihood that you will need your discharge order in the months to come if you want to open a checking account, or if you decided to apply for a mortgage or car loan.
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The most recent report from the United States Courts Administrative Office reveals that Tennessee leads the nation in bankruptcy filings per population size. Approximately 1 out of every 59 Tennessee households filed either Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy in fiscal year 2007. By contrast, just over 1 out of every 100 Alaskans filed bankruptcy during this same time period.
The reports for fiscal year 2008 will be released in March. It will be interesting to see if there is any change in this disturbing trend.
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Once you have decided to file for bankruptcy, you will need to gather the following information and bring it to our office:
- copy of your most recently filed federal income tax return – if you have filed for tax year 2007, bring that; otherwise, bring your 2006 returns
- copy of pay stubs (also called "pay advices") for this month and the previous six months. We need these pay advices to analyze your income numbers for the bankruptcy median income and means test. We will need pay stubs for you and your spouse – whether or not your spouse is filing with you. The Bankruptcy Court needs information about household income. If you are self employed or a commissioned sales person, we will need information about your gross income
- credit counseling certificate – the law requires that you obtain credit counseling prior to filing and you will need to bring us or fax us a copy of your certificate
- completed bankruptcy intake questionnaire that includes a list of all of your creditors
- evidence about the valuation of your vehicles and real estate – for cars and trucks, we recommend that you take your vehicle to CarMax, where you can get a written purchase offer at no cost. For real estate, we recommend that you ask a local real estate agent for a "drive by" appraisal
Our friendly staff is always here to help – please do not hesitate to call us:
Nashville – (615) 254-3633
Knoxville – (865) 689-1777
Chattanooga – (423) 634-1910
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