Disclose Debt Relief Payments And Attorney Fees On SOFA 9
By Andy Miofsky, Illinois Bankruptcy Attorney on Apr 7, 2009 in Bankruptcy Practice and Procedure
Debtors filing bankruptcy are required to disclose money paid to anyone, including attorneys, for debt consolidation, bankruptcy relief or petition preparation within one year before filing. This disclosure occurs on the Statement of Financial Affairs at question number 9. The question covers payments to debt relief or debt reduction companies, regardless of whether the effort involved bankruptcy. It also covers payments to petition preparers, regardless of whether an attorney is involved. And it covers attorneys, including the attorney filing the instant bankruptcy case.
SOFA 9 is signed by the debtor, not by an attorney. In comparison, the bankruptcy attorney is required to disclose and sign a separate Disclosure of Compensation form. Because these two documents require identification of similar information, careful attention must be paid to insure the forms compliment each other and do not omit critical information. While data included on SOFA 9 might include information about payments to non-attorneys that does not have to be disclosed on the attorney Disclosure form, data on the Disclosure of Compensation form must always be included on SOFA 9 because it involves compensation paid to an attorney for bankruptcy relief within one year before filing.
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