The Bankruptcy Court verifies information from the paperwork that is filed. The paperwork must be signed in ink OR verified per local rule PRIOR to its electronic filing. The documents filed are unsworn statements under oath and are filed under penalty of perjury. The United States Trustee’s Office and case trustees are appointed to oversee the process and check for inaccuracies and omissions so you need to do your homework and provide true and accurate information.

In addition, you will be placed under oath approximately 6 weeks after your case is filed at a court hearing called a Section 341 hearing. At that time your case Trustee, or the U.S. Trustee, will ask you questions about your case including whether you read and signed your paperwork and whether you read the paperwork, signed the paperwork and included a true and accurate schedule of all of your assets and all of your creditors (you can’t pick and choose).

Penalties for inaccurate or fraudulent filings include substantial fines and up to 5 years imprisonment in a Federal prison so you need to treat this as a serious legal matter and hire the assistance you need to do the job right.