Bankruptcy Petition - Chapter 13

CHAPTER 13 FILING WORKBOOK — ALABAMA

This workbook is an intake and quality-control aid. It is not a petition, a Chapter 13 plan, or a substitute for required national and local forms.

1. Select the Correct Bankruptcy District

There is no single “District of Alabama.” Determine the proper federal bankruptcy district and division from the debtor's residence, domicile, business, assets, and current venue law before preparing local forms.

☐ Northern District of Alabama

☐ Middle District of Alabama

☐ Southern District of Alabama

2. Bankruptcy Administrator — Not U.S. Trustee

Alabama bankruptcy cases are supervised through the federal judiciary's Bankruptcy Administrator Program. Alabama and North Carolina are the only states using bankruptcy administrators instead of the Department of Justice's U.S. Trustee Program.

☐ Identify the Bankruptcy Administrator for the selected district.

☐ Use the selected district's current trustee, meeting, service, and administrative-expense instructions.

☐ Do not insert a U.S. Trustee region number into an Alabama filing.

3. District-Specific Chapter 13 Plan

Use the plan currently published by the selected court:

☐ Download a fresh copy from the court website immediately before filing.

☐ Review district and divisional administrative orders affecting fees, distributions, signatures, service, or confirmation.

☐ Do not use Official Form 113 when the selected court requires its local plan under Fed. R. Bankr. P. 3015(c).

4. Pre-Filing Review

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

☐ Confirm current debt limits on the filing date; do not use the obsolete $465,275 / $1,395,875 figures or any other copied amount without current official verification.

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

☐ Confirm venue, division, joint-filing eligibility, filing fee, installment procedure, filing method, and signature method with the selected district.

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

5. National Filing Package

Use the current edition of every Official Bankruptcy Form.

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

☐ Official Forms 106 Summary, 106A/B through 106J-2, and 106Dec.

☐ Official Form 107 — Statement of Financial Affairs.

☐ Official Form 121 — Statement About Your Social Security Numbers; submit using the selected court's nonpublic procedure.

☐ Official Forms 122C-1 and, when required, 122C-2.

☐ Creditor mailing matrix and any district verification form.

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

☐ 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.

☐ Selected district's current Chapter 13 plan.

☐ Filing fee or current installment application, if applicable.

Fed. R. Bankr. P. 3015(b) requires the plan with the petition or within 14 days after filing, unless the court extends the time for cause on the notice it orders.

6. 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

☐ Future income is submitted as necessary to trustee supervision and control. See 11 U.S.C. § 1322(a)(1).

☐ Priority claims receive treatment required by 11 U.S.C. § 1322(a)(2), unless a holder agrees to a lawful alternative.

☐ 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 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 11 U.S.C. § 1325(b).

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

7. District Filing and Service Controls

Northern District

☐ If the plan is not filed with the petition, or an amended plan is filed before confirmation, serve the trustee, all creditors, and all other parties in interest and attach the certificate required by Bankr. N.D. Ala. R. 3015-1(b).

☐ If the plan contains a valuation, lien-avoidance request, § 1301 codebtor-stay request, or specified nonstandard provision, complete the supplemental Rule 7004 service certificate required by Bankr. N.D. Ala. R. 3015-1(c).

Middle District

☐ Use Local Form 6 v4 dated March 2, 2026 and follow the court's current highlighting instructions for an amended plan.

☐ Check the Middle District's current local rules, administrative orders, trustee instructions, and electronic-filing requirements before filing.

Southern District

☐ Use the plan linked as the current Chapter 13 plan on the Southern District local-forms page.

☐ Review the court's current Chapter 13 confirmation procedures, final-plan-summary requirements, local creditor-list verification, and applicable administrative orders.

8. 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.

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

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

☐ Review prior cases, eviction matters, domestic-support matters, and criminal proceedings for stay exceptions or limitations.

9. Prohibited Boilerplate and Final Review

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

☐ The caption names the correct Northern, Middle, or Southern District—not a fictional “District of Alabama.”

☐ The Bankruptcy Administrator is identified; no U.S. Trustee region is used.

☐ The current district plan form is attached.

☐ Current debt limits, median-income figures, filing fees, trustee information, attorney-fee rules, and distribution orders are verified immediately before filing.

☐ No protected identifier is exposed in a public filing contrary to the current forms and privacy rules.

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

Sources and References

• U.S. Government Publishing Office, 11 U.S.C. § 109, § 301, § 362, § 521, § 1322, § 1325, § 1326, and § 1327.
• U.S. Government Publishing Office, Fed. R. Bankr. P. 1007 and 3015.
• U.S. Courts, Official Form 101 and Trustees and Administrators.
• Northern District of Alabama, Bankr. N.D. Ala. R. 3015-1, local forms, and Chapter 13 filing requirements.
• Middle District of Alabama, local forms, including Local Form 6 v4 dated March 2, 2026.
• Southern District of Alabama, local forms and Chapter 13 information.