Client intake & workflow
The bankruptcy document checklist: everything clients must bring
A consumer bankruptcy case runs on documents, not recollection. The client’s answers populate the schedules; the documents prove them, feed the means test, and satisfy the trustee. Two are statutory: §521 requires the payment advices the debtor received from any employer in the 60 days before filing, and the most recent federal tax return must reach the trustee no later than 7 days before the first 341 date.
Everything else below exists because the file cannot be completed accurately without it. Hand this list to the client at the same moment as the questionnaire — they are companion documents, and collecting one without the other guarantees a second round of requests. The questions those documents answer appear in what a client intake form must collect.
Identity documents
| Document | Why it is needed | When |
|---|---|---|
| Government photo ID | Trustees verify identity at the 341; the name must match the petition | Original at the 341 |
| Social Security card or acceptable proof of the number | Verified against Form 121; a mismatch commonly continues a meeting | Original at the 341 |
| Marriage certificate, divorce decree, or separation agreement | Establishes joint filing, property division, and support obligations | Before drafting |
This pair is small and disproportionately disruptive. Trustees generally want unexpired originals — not photocopies, not a phone photo — and a client who arrives without both comes back another day.
Income documents
| Document | Why it is needed | When |
|---|---|---|
| All pay stubs from the 60 days before filing, every job | Required by §521; also feeds Schedule I | The full window, before filing |
| Pay records for the 6 full calendar months before filing | The means-test lookback is longer than the §521 window | Before Form 122A-1 |
| Most recent federal return with schedules and W-2s | Goes to the trustee, not the docket | No later than 7 days before the 341 |
| Prior years of federal and state returns | Reveals unfiled years and business income | Before filing |
| Profit and loss statement for self-employment | The substitute when there are no pay stubs | Before drafting |
| Benefit award letters and support orders received | Non-wage household income clients routinely omit | Before drafting |
Pay stub collection fails predictably: the client brings the last two, not the last 60 days, and not the second job. Ask for a count rather than a date range — “eight if you are paid weekly, four if biweekly” — and confirm every employer on the intake form has a matching stack. How those stubs are averaged is covered in the Chapter 7 means test walkthrough.
Bank and financial account records
| Document | Why it is needed | When |
|---|---|---|
| Statements for every open account, last 3–6 months | Reveals forgotten deposits and transfers | Before filing |
| A statement covering the filing date itself | The filing-date balance is estate property and must be scheduled | Immediately after filing |
| Statements for accounts closed in the last year | Form 107 asks about them; trustees ask where the money went | Before drafting Form 107 |
| Retirement, brokerage, and education accounts | Values the asset and reveals loans against it | Before drafting |
Debt documents
| Document | Why it is needed | When |
|---|---|---|
| A recent statement or bill for every debt | Supplies the creditor address and account number for the matrix | Before drafting |
| Collection letters and creditor law firm correspondence | Collectors get notice as well as the original creditor | Before drafting |
| Credit report pulled by the firm | Catches forgotten accounts; never replaces the client’s own list | At the consult |
| Judgments, garnishment notices, and lawsuit papers | Identifies liens, garnishments to stop, and litigation for Form 107 | Before filing |
| Tax notices, payment plans, and student loan statements | Sorts priority from dischargeable tax debt; confirms servicers | Before drafting |
A credit report is a supplement, not a substitute. It misses medical debt that was never reported, loans from family, and debts the client co-signed but never carried — all still scheduled.
Property documents
| Document | Why it is needed | When |
|---|---|---|
| Deed or title for each parcel of real property | Establishes how title is held, which drives exemption analysis | Before Schedules A/B and C |
| Mortgage statements for every lien, including HELOCs | Balance, payment, escrow, and arrears | Before drafting |
| Tax bill, appraisal, or dated valuation printout | Documents the basis for scheduled value; reveals tax liens | Before drafting |
| Vehicle titles, registrations, and loan statements | Confirms lienholder; payoff versus value sets equity | Before drafting |
| Leases: residence, vehicle, equipment, storage | Feeds Schedule G and the assume-or-reject decision | Before drafting |
Insurance, support orders, and other records
- Life insurance declarations pages showing cash value — an asset even though clients report only the premium
- Homeowner, renter, and auto policies, which trustees ask about for property still securing a debt
- Health insurance documents supporting the premiums and out-of-pocket costs claimed on Schedule J
- Domestic support orders and arrears statements, plus any divorce property settlement, which can create obligations that are not dischargeable
- The credit counseling certificate, valid only if the briefing occurred within the 180 days before filing under §109(h) — see the credit counseling requirement
- Business formation documents for any business interest, and the discharge or dismissal order from any prior case
What is due when
| Deadline | What must be in hand |
|---|---|
| Before the petition is signed | Identity documents, 60 days of pay advices, and statements supporting every scheduled debt and asset |
| At filing, or within 14 days of a skeletal petition | Everything needed to complete the schedules, Form 107, and the means test |
| No later than 7 days before the first 341 date | The most recent federal tax return, delivered to the trustee |
| At the 341 meeting | Original photo ID and proof of Social Security number, plus anything requested in advance |
| On the trustee’s follow-up request | Filing-date bank statement, vehicle valuations, and anything flagged at the meeting |
How missing documents stall a case
None of the consequences are discretionary. Without the pay advices, the case is exposed to dismissal for failure to comply with §521. Without the tax return seven days out, the trustee will typically continue the meeting rather than conclude it. Without ID, the client makes a second trip. And because the schedules are signed under penalty of perjury, a value taken from memory is a declaration the client cannot support if questioned.
The subtler cost is internal: every partial document set turns one file into a series of interruptions — a request, a wait, a reopened file. Firms that measure intake cycle time usually find document collection, not drafting, is the longest stage. Preparing for the meeting itself is covered in 341 meeting preparation, and the U.S. Trustee Program publishes program-level guidance at justice.gov/ust.
A collection strategy clients actually complete
- Give a count, not a category. “Four pay stubs” is a task a client can finish; “recent pay stubs” is a judgment call they will get wrong.
- Split the list into two waves. Wave one is what blocks drafting — ID, pay stubs, tax return, mortgage and vehicle statements. A twenty-item list reads as impossible; a five-item list gets done.
- Accept photos, with a stated floor. A legible phone photo beats a document that never arrives: whole page in frame, all four corners, no glare.
- Name the files, or rename on receipt. Twenty attachments called IMG_4471 cost more staff time than the collection did.
- Check items off one master list, not the inbox. Then “waiting on the client” always has a specific answer, and a scheduled cadence replaces sporadic chasing.
- Explain the why in one line each. Clients who know the tax return goes to the trustee on a statutory deadline produce it faster than clients told only that the office needs it.
How many pay stubs does a client actually need to provide?
Enough to cover the 60 days before filing for every employer, which is the §521 requirement. Petition prep usually needs more, because the means test averages income across the 6 full calendar months before filing.
What if the client is self-employed and has no pay stubs?
Substitute a profit and loss statement for the same period, supported by bank statements showing deposits, and document the absence of payment advices rather than leaving the requirement unmet.
Is the tax return filed with the court?
No. The most recent federal return goes to the trustee and must be received no later than 7 days before the first date set for the 341 meeting.
What if a required return was never filed?
Address it before filing. Trustees routinely require unfiled returns to be prepared and submitted, and unfiled years can affect whether a tax debt is dischargeable at all.
Are copies acceptable, or do you need originals?
Legible copies are fine for petition preparation. The exceptions are the photo ID and proof of Social Security number, which trustees generally inspect as originals.
This guide is general information for law-firm staff, not legal advice for any particular case.