Bankruptcy Petition - Chapter 13

CHAPTER 13 FILING WORKBOOK — ARKANSAS

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 Arkansas local forms. Transfer verified information to the current Official Bankruptcy Forms and Arkansas Local Form 13-1.

1. Select the District and Division

The United States Bankruptcy Court website serves both the Eastern and Western Districts of Arkansas. Select the correct district and division under current venue law and court instructions.

Arkansas is in the U.S. Trustee Program's Region 13. The court's trustee page assigns Chapter 13 trustees by division. Confirm the trustee and meeting instructions from the notice issued in the case; do not rely on a copied name, address, or videoconference credential.

2. 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 the debt limits in effect on the filing date. For cases filed on or after April 1, 2025, the adjusted § 109(e) limits are $526,700 in noncontingent, liquidated unsecured debt and $1,580,125 in noncontingent, liquidated secured debt.

☐ 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 all 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 using current court instructions.

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

3. Required Filing Package

Use the current edition of every Official Bankruptcy Form. The Arkansas court's current Chapter 13 filing-requirements page lists the following opening documents and deadlines; reconcile that operational list with Fed. R. Bankr. P. 1007 and the facts of the case.

☐ 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 it through the court's nonpublic procedure; do not attach it to a public filing.

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

☐ Official Form 2030 — Disclosure of Compensation of Attorney for Debtor, when counsel represents the debtor.

☐ Creditor mailing matrix in the format and by the deadline required by the current court instructions.

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

☐ 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) and Fed. R. Bankr. P. 1007, unless the court orders otherwise.

☐ Arkansas Local Form 13-1 — Arkansas Chapter 13 Plan.

☐ Filing fee or Official Form 103A installment application, if applicable.

☐ Official Form 119 if a bankruptcy petition preparer is involved.

☐ Calendar the post-filing financial-management certificate and every case-specific deadline.

Fed. R. Bankr. P. 3015(b) requires the Chapter 13 plan with the petition or within 14 days after filing, unless the court extends the time for cause on the notice it orders. The Arkansas filing-requirements page instructs that a plan filed after the petition must be accompanied by a Notice of Opportunity to Object.

4. Arkansas Local Form 13-1

Arkansas Local Bankruptcy Rule 3015-1 requires every Chapter 13 plan proponent to use Local Form 13-1. The current official PDF is labeled “Arkansas Plan Form — 1/20.” Do not use Official Form 113 or a narrative substitute.

Plan Identification and Service

☐ Mark the plan original or amended.

☐ For an amended plan, repeat all applicable provisions; do not incorporate a prior plan by reference.

☐ Identify changed sections and the reasons for amendment. If creditors are added, complete Addendum A and file amended schedules as appropriate.

☐ Attach the required matrix or file a separate certificate showing service consistent with Fed. R. Bankr. P. 2002 and the instructions printed in Local Form 13-1.

☐ Calendar the objection deadline printed in the current plan form and any different deadline set by notice or court order.

Notices and Nonstandard Provisions

☐ If the plan limits a secured claim through the valuation provisions in Part 3.4, mark “Included” at item 1.1.

☐ Put every nonstandard provision only in Part 8 and mark “Included” at item 1.2. Under Fed. R. Bankr. P. 3015(c) and the form, a nonstandard provision placed elsewhere is ineffective.

☐ Do not alter the wording or order of the local form except through the designated nonstandard-provisions section.

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

☐ Future income is submitted as necessary 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 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 choice is stated deliberately; otherwise 11 U.S.C. § 1327(b) supplies the default rule.

6. Arkansas Filing and Case Controls

☐ Arkansas Local Bankruptcy Rule 5005-4 generally requires electronic filing and adopts the court's administrative procedures. Confirm whether an enumerated exception applies, including the exception for a party without legal representation.

☐ Arkansas Local Bankruptcy Rule 2072-1 requires written notice as soon as possible to each court or administrative tribunal where litigation involving the debtor is pending, with copies mailed the same day to all attorneys of record.

☐ If a debtor is operating a business, review the monthly-operating-report requirement in Arkansas Local Bankruptcy Rule 1020-1.

☐ For every scheduled motor vehicle, review Arkansas Local Bankruptcy Rule 2015-1. At or before the § 341 meeting, provide the trustee written evidence of physical-damage insurance noting all interested parties. Failure to provide the evidence can trigger coverage and premiums under the trustee's master policy as described in the rule.

☐ Follow the assigned trustee's current instructions for payments, documents, tax returns, domestic-support information, and the virtual or alternative § 341 meeting.

☐ Use the current docket notices and court orders—not copied boilerplate—to determine confirmation, objection, service, amendment, dismissal, and discharge procedures.

7. Automatic Stay and Privacy

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.

☐ Apply Fed. R. Bankr. P. 9037 to every public filing: ordinarily use only the last four digits of Social Security, taxpayer-identification, and financial-account numbers; the year of birth; and a minor's initials.

8. 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, local rules, official forms, administrative procedures, and case-specific court orders.

☐ The caption names the correct Eastern or Western District and division.

☐ U.S. Trustee Region 13 is used; no copied region number remains.

☐ Current Local Form 13-1 is complete, including all checkboxes and required service.

☐ Current debt limits, median-income figures, filing fee, trustee information, attorney-fee treatment, and payment instructions are verified immediately before filing.

☐ No nonexistent local rule—such as the former draft's “LBR 1007-1,” “LBR 2016-3,” “LBR 3015-2,” “LBR 1009-1,” or “LBR 9011-1”—is cited.

☐ All signatures, certificates of service, 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.
• Judicial Conference of the United States, 2025 adjustment notice, effective April 1, 2025.
• U.S. Government Publishing Office, Fed. R. Bankr. P. 1007, 3015, and 9037.
• U.S. Courts, Official Form 101 and current bankruptcy-forms catalog.
• U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern and Western Districts of Arkansas, current local rules, Local Form 13-1, Chapter 13 filing requirements, and trustee information.
• U.S. Trustee Program, Region 13 and Districts of Arkansas office.