INSTRUCTIONS : DECLARATION AND SIGNATURE OF NON-ATTORNEY BANKRUPTCY PETITION PREPARER (Form B-19)
• A Chapter 13 Bankruptcy is a debt repayment plan; in order to filing for this type of bankruptcy the individual must be employed so they can make regular payments to the Bankruptcy Court. The payments offered by the filer are then distributed among the individual’s various creditors. In most instances, an individual will be required to file this form of bankruptcy if they can pay at least 25% of their debts given their disposable income and savings. If the individual is approved for a chapter 13 filing, they will make payments for up to 5 years; the court will negotiate the filer to pay a portion of the total debts during this time.
What are the Form B-19 Declaration and Signature of Non-Attorney Bankruptcy Petition Preparer?
• The Form B-19 Declaration and Signature of Non-attorney Bankruptcy Petition Preparer is simply a document which formally declares the individual filing the bankruptcy petition on behalf of his or her client as a bankruptcy petition preparer as defined in 11 U.S.C. In addition to affirming, under penalty of perjury, that the preparer is legally fit to commence such a filing, the document also enforces that the individual has prepared the accompanying documents listed for compensation and have provided the debtor with a copy of such documents, as well as an attached notice as required by bankruptcy law.
• The document, in addition to affirming the previous information, will legally state that the preparer of the petition set a maximum fee of service chargeable and established to the debtor a notice of the maximum amount before preparing any document for filing. In summation, this particular form affirms that the preparer of a bankruptcy filing will legally comply with the provisions of title 11 and the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure.
• Furthermore, the document contains various statements and instructions that the debtor should take not of; the notice to the debtor states the legal role of the bankruptcy petition preparer. It is important to observe, that in this note, the preparer states that he or she is not an attorney and is not legally allowed to practice law or give legal advice—they are responsible for simply preparing the documents and clarifying ambiguities or complexities associated with the particular case.
