Bankruptcy is complicated; one thing that is important for people to know is what they are required to by law to disclose. The process is complex, especially for folks who are dealing with a lot of assets and liabilities. It's worth taking a look at the things you have to disclose.

Complete List of Creditors

To be clear, there are no legal implications to this. However, from the viewpoint of a bankruptcy attorney, failing to present as thorough of a list of your creditors as possible completely defeats the purpose of filing at all.

What you gain by disclosing who all your creditors are is simple. You get protection. The court will prevent creditors from pursuing collection actions against you. If they have an objection to anything you do during the process, then they'll have to follow the legal process and complain to the court.

More importantly, a complete list ensures no one can unexpectedly come after you for a debt. If they're not on the list, then they will have every right to pursue collection during and after your bankruptcy. Therefore, it is quite important to make sure you get every creditor on there.

Assets

It is important to list all of your assets, otherwise there can be legal implications. If you own it, it needs to be included in the bankruptcy filing. Otherwise, there is a risk that the court or one of your creditors will view that as an attempt at hiding assets. That means risking having your case dismissed, being fined, or even possibly going to jail, all depending on just how egregious your behavior was.

If you messed up and forgot something, make a good-faith effort to correct the record ASAP. What the court doesn't want is to learn that assets weren't disclosed until creditors mentioned them to the bankruptcy trustee.

Exemptions

If you're seeking liquidation of assets under Chapter 7, you'll have the right to ask the court to exempt certain pieces of property. Make an honest effort to request only things that are essential to maintaining a reasonable standard of living in your post-bankruptcy life. Pushing the issue too far and trying to claim, for example, that a $200,000 sports car is necessary for your work commute is a good way to cause tension with a judge. Play it straight so the court will appreciate that you understand the situation.

Bankruptcy is a tricky process that is best handled through a bankruptcy attorney. If you are thinking of filling, then contact professionals in your area.