Bankruptcy Petition - Chapter 13

CHAPTER 13 FILING WORKBOOK — DISTRICT OF ALASKA

This workbook is an intake and quality-control aid. It is not a petition, a Chapter 13 plan, or a substitute for any required national or Alaska local form. Transfer verified information to the current Official Bankruptcy Forms and AK LBF 5.

1. Case Information

Alaska is served by the United States Trustee Program's Region 18. Confirm the assigned trustee and meeting instructions from the notice issued in the specific case; do not rely on a hard-coded name, address, or videoconference credential.

2. Pre-Filing Review

☐ Confirm each proposed debtor is an individual with regular income who satisfies the current eligibility requirements of 11 U.S.C. § 109(e).

☐ Confirm the debts are classified and measured under the law in effect on the filing date. Do not copy an old dollar limit from a prior template.

☐ Confirm each individual completed approved pre-petition credit counseling within the period required by 11 U.S.C. § 109(h), or document the specific statutory exception or temporary-certification route.

☐ Review every prior bankruptcy case and obtain advice about dismissal bars and any limitation on the automatic stay.

☐ Confirm venue, district, joint-filing eligibility, filing method, filing fee, and any installment application using current court instructions.

☐ Collect complete creditor addresses, income records, asset records, secured-loan documents, leases, domestic-support information, tax records, and recent payment advices.

3. Required Filing Package

Official Bankruptcy Forms are mandatory where prescribed. Use the current edition displayed on the U.S. Courts and District of Alaska websites.

☐ Official Form 101 — Voluntary Petition for Individuals Filing for Bankruptcy.

☐ Official Forms 106 Summary, 106A/B through 106J-2, and 106Dec — individual schedules, summary, and declaration.

☐ Official Form 107 — Statement of Financial Affairs for Individuals Filing for Bankruptcy.

☐ Official Form 121 — Statement About Your Social Security Numbers. Under AK LBR 1007-1(d), submit it to the Clerk but do not file it publicly or attach it to the petition.

☐ Official Forms 122C-1 and, when required, 122C-2 — Chapter 13 current-monthly-income, commitment-period, and disposable-income calculations.

☐ Creditor mailing matrix and AK LBF 40 — AK LBR 1007-2 requires a single-spaced matrix and a signed Verification of Creditor Mailing Matrix. Include both a governmental unit and its legal department when AK LBR 1007-1(e) applies.

☐ Credit-counseling certificate and any debt-repayment plan required by 11 U.S.C. §§ 109(h) and 521(b), or the appropriate request/certification for an exception.

☐ Payment advices or other evidence of employer payments received during the 60 days before filing, as required by 11 U.S.C. § 521(a)(1)(B)(iv), unless the court orders otherwise.

☐ AK LBF 5 — Chapter 13 Plan, with the attachments required by AK LBR 3015-1. The District of Alaska uses its local plan form instead of Official Form 113.

☐ Filing fee or current installment application, if applicable.

Fed. R. Bankr. P. 3015(b) requires the Chapter 13 plan to be filed with the petition or within 14 days after the petition is filed, unless the court grants an extension for cause on the notice it orders.

4. Alaska Plan Assembly — AK LBF 5

AK LBR 3015-1 requires the plan to conform to AK LBF 5 unless the court orders otherwise. Attach each item required by the current form and rule:

☐ Plan analysis.

☐ Disposable-income analysis.

☐ Liquidation analysis.

☐ Schedule of direct payments to creditors.

☐ Debtor and debtor-attorney signatures, if represented.

Alaska-Specific Controls

☐ State the Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend contribution in the location required by AK LBF 5. AK LBR 3015-1(b)(1) says it may not be included in the regular periodic-payment paragraph.

☐ Do not attempt to accomplish lien avoidance, an objection to a claim, a dischargeability determination, collateral valuation, or an interest-rate reduction solely through plan language. AK LBR 3015-1(b)(4) requires separate procedure.

☐ If the plan classifies unsecured claims, check the classification against 11 U.S.C. § 1322(b)(1) and the current local form.

☐ Do not insert a private payroll-deduction order into the plan. AK LBR 3015-1(c) provides for payroll deduction after a default of two monthly payments.

5. Plan Terms Worksheet

Funding

Under 11 U.S.C. § 1326(a)(1), payments generally begin no later than 30 days after the plan is filed or the order for relief is entered, whichever is earlier, unless the court orders otherwise.

Claim Treatment

Confirmation Review

☐ The plan submits the necessary future income to trustee supervision and control. See 11 U.S.C. § 1322(a)(1).

☐ Priority claims receive the treatment required by 11 U.S.C. § 1322(a)(2), unless the holder agrees to different treatment authorized by law.

☐ Each secured claim receives treatment permitted by 11 U.S.C. § 1325(a)(5).

☐ Unsecured creditors receive at least the Chapter 7 liquidation value required by 11 U.S.C. § 1325(a)(4).

☐ The petition and plan are proposed in good faith. See 11 U.S.C. § 1325(a)(3) and (7).

☐ The debtor can make all plan payments and comply with the plan. See 11 U.S.C. § 1325(a)(6).

☐ Post-petition domestic support obligations and required tax returns satisfy 11 U.S.C. § 1325(a)(8) and (9).

☐ If the trustee or an allowed unsecured creditor objects, the plan satisfies the projected-disposable-income requirement in 11 U.S.C. § 1325(b).

☐ The vesting provision is stated deliberately; otherwise 11 U.S.C. § 1327(b) supplies the default rule upon confirmation.

6. Alaska Service, Payment, and Reporting Checklist

☐ Mail the plan, plan analysis, objection-date notice, and confirmation-hearing notice within the period required by AK LBR 3015-3(b). The current rule sets a 28-day post-petition or post-conversion deadline.

☐ Begin payments when required by 11 U.S.C. § 1326(a)(1).

☐ List each direct-payment obligation in the separate schedule required by AK LBR 3015-4(b)(1).

☐ By the third business day of each month, provide the trustee the prior month's direct-payment certification and supporting receipt or payment instrument in the form required by AK LBF 5B. See AK LBR 3015-4(b)(2).

☐ If a domestic support obligation applies, provide the trustee the information and documents required by AK LBR 4002-1(b), including the initial information within 14 days after filing and evidence of the first post-petition payment within 7 days after payment.

☐ Keep addresses, employment information, income, expenses, insurance, and requested supporting records current throughout the case.

☐ Calendar the Section 341 meeting, confirmation process, objection dates, tax-return duties, financial-management course, plan payments, and discharge certifications from the actual docket notices and current rules.

7. Automatic Stay and Case Status

A voluntary case begins when an eligible debtor files the petition. See 11 U.S.C. § 301. Section 362(a) supplies the general automatic stay, but § 362 contains exceptions and limitations. Prior cases, eviction judgments, domestic-support matters, criminal proceedings, and other circumstances can change the stay's scope or duration.

☐ Record the date and time the court opened the case and issued the case number.

☐ Confirm the stay's actual scope before telling any creditor, employer, landlord, or court that an action must stop.

☐ Do not describe the stay as an arbitration ban, jury waiver, indemnity, or negotiated injunction.

8. Prohibited Boilerplate and Final Quality Review

Do not add private-contract provisions such as representations and warranties, indemnification, force majeure, integration, assignment, liability caps, forum selection, arbitration waivers, jury waivers, or invented default-and-cure periods. A bankruptcy petition and plan are governed by the Bankruptcy Code, Bankruptcy Rules, local rules, official forms, and court orders.

☐ Every number comes from the current official form, statute, rule, trustee instruction, or court order.

☐ No Social Security number, minor's full name, account number, or other protected identifier appears in a public filing except as authorized by the applicable privacy rules and forms.

☐ The current AK LBF 5—not AK LBF 3 or a narrative substitute—is used for the plan.

☐ The U.S. Trustee is identified as Region 18—not Region 19.

☐ Exemption choices and amounts are checked against current federal and Alaska authority before completing Schedule C; no amount is copied from an outdated court handout.

☐ All signatures, service certificates, attachments, and local-form requirements are complete.

Sources and References

• U.S. Government Publishing Office, 11 U.S.C. § 109, § 301, § 362, § 521, § 1321, § 1322, § 1325, § 1326, and § 1327.
• U.S. Government Publishing Office, Fed. R. Bankr. P. 1007 and 3015.
• U.S. Courts, Official Form 101 and current bankruptcy-forms catalog.
• U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Alaska, Local Bankruptcy Rules, amended through December 1, 2024, local forms, and electronic self-representation instructions.
• U.S. Trustee Program, Region 18 and District of Alaska Section 341 meeting information.