An emergency bankruptcy filing should be avoided at all costs, but sometimes lawsuits, garnishments, and foreclosure sales come as a surprise and an emergency bankruptcy filing is needed before the harm done is irreparable. An emergency bankruptcy filing is often referred to as a skeleton filing, meaning that there is no “meat” to the filing and it contains only the most basic information. The filing acts as a place holder. Creditors are made aware of the bankruptcy filing and the existence of the bankruptcy stay, but little else.
An effective skeleton bankruptcy filing includes the Voluntary Petition that contains the name, aliases, address, and other basic information for the debtor, the person filing bankruptcy. The filing should also include the Statement of Social Security Number. This is a secure document but discloses the social security, so creditors can identify accounts belonging to the debtor. Information that is very important and often overlooked in an emergency bankruptcy filing is the Credit Matrix. The Credit Matrix is the collection of all the names of the creditors you owe debts and the correspondence or service address for each. Service to creditors is so important, and when preparing the Creditor Matrix, reliance on the credit report should be avoided if at all possible. This information should come for online research by the attorney and credit statements, collection notices, and lawsuits that come from the debtor. If a creditor is not noticed of the bankruptcy, then they will not know about the stay and failure to timely update the Creditor Matrix with any missing creditors will result in the debt be unaffected by the bankruptcy filing and discharge. It would be terrible to go through the whole process and then come out of bankruptcy to be welcomed by a collection notice from a creditor that was not noticed.
It is essential to know that the work is just beginning after the filing of the emergency bankruptcy. Many debtors breathe a sigh of relief and want to relax, but the emergency filing solves one emergency situation and creates the race to collect the resource documents needed to prepare the remainder of the bankruptcy filing and prepare the filing within the 14 days allotted for finishing the statements and disclosures to dismissal (cancellation) of the bankruptcy case. This is why an emergency filing is often more work than cases that are prepared in the ordinary course. Fixing cases that are filed as an emergency by the debtor pro se are even more work to repair and get back on track to discharge (success).
Bankruptcy is difficult. Some jobs are best left to the professionals. You would not do your dental work or attempt a medical procedure on yourself! If you have an emergency situation that you need assistance with you should contact a bankruptcy attorney, if possible, several days in advance of the need to file. Many bankruptcy attorneys offer free same day consultations.
