Schedule of Assets and Liabilities in Bankruptcy

The schedule of assets and liabilities in bankruptcy is a package of official forms, running from Schedule A/B through Schedule J, that lists every piece of property you own and every debt you owe. Individual debtors file them with the bankruptcy petition or within 14 days after, and the case is automatically dismissed if the required information isn’t on file within 45 days of the petition date.¹ Every form is signed under penalty of perjury, so accuracy is the whole job.

The Forms That Make Up the Schedules

The schedules give the court, the trustee, and your creditors a complete financial picture. Each form has a designated number and a specific role:

Schedule A/B (Form 106A/B): all property you own or have an interest in
Schedule C (Form 106C): property you claim as exempt from creditors
Schedule D (Form 106D): creditors with secured claims, such as mortgages and car loans
Schedule E/F (Form 106E/F): creditors with unsecured claims, including priority debts like taxes and support obligations
Schedule G (Form 106G): executory contracts and unexpired leases
Schedule H (Form 106H): codebtors who share liability on your debts
Schedule I (Form 106I): your current income
Schedule J (Form 106J): your current expenses

In a Chapter 7 case, you file these schedules along with a statement of financial affairs and other supporting documents.² Chapter 13 filers submit the same core schedules together with a proposed repayment plan.

When the Schedules Are Due

The schedules must be filed with the petition or within 14 days afterward.³ That window is tight. Most people are better off having the schedules substantially complete before the petition is filed than scrambling afterward.

Miss the 14-day window and the court can grant extensions, but there is a hard outer limit. For individual Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 debtors, the case is automatically dismissed if all required information isn’t on file within 45 days of the petition date.¹ The court can grant one additional 45-day extension, but only on a motion filed before the first 45 days run out. Automatic dismissal needs no one to request it; the case ends on day 46 on its own.

Schedule A/B: Everything You Own

Schedule A/B asks you to disclose every piece of property you own or hold an interest in, regardless of what you think it’s worth. The form is organized by category, and each item needs a description, its location, and your estimate of its current value. Leaving something off is one of the fastest ways to lose credibility with the trustee.

Real Property

List every real estate interest: your home, vacation property, vacant land, rental properties, and timeshares. For each parcel, provide the street address and your estimated market value. If you own jointly with someone else, disclose only the value of your interest.

Personal Property and Financial Assets

Personal property covers vehicles, household furniture, electronics, clothing, jewelry, tools, firearms, collectibles, and sporting equipment. You don’t need a professional appraisal for every lamp, but you do need honest estimates of what each item would sell for in its current condition.

Financial assets get their own detailed accounting. That means cash on hand, every bank account balance as of the filing date, stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and retirement accounts like 401(k)s and IRAs. Also included: money owed to you, security deposits held by landlords or utilities, and interests in education or health savings accounts. Tax refunds you expect for the current or prior year count as property of the estate and belong on this schedule.

The Interests People Forget

This is where schedules most often go wrong. Potential legal claims and pending lawsuits are property. Business ownership interests, even minority stakes, must be listed. Intellectual property, licenses, and any rights to future payments, including structured settlements and anticipated inheritances, all qualify. If it has value or could have value, it goes on Schedule A/B.

Schedule C: What You Get to Keep

Schedule C is where you protect property from creditors by claiming it as exempt. You identify specific items from Schedule A/B and claim them under either federal or state exemption law.⁴

The first decision is the system. You check one box for either federal bankruptcy exemptions under 11 U.S.C. 522(b)(2) or your state’s exemptions under 11 U.S.C. 522(b)(3).⁴ Some states don’t allow their residents to use the federal exemptions, so your location drives the choice. For each exempt item, list the property, its current value, the amount you claim as exempt, and the specific law that allows the exemption.

If federal exemptions are available to you, the wildcard is a useful tool. For cases filed between April 1, 2025, and March 31, 2028, the federal wildcard protects up to $1,675 in any property, plus up to $15,800 of any unused portion of your homestead exemption.⁵ Because the wildcard applies to any type of property, it’s valuable for protecting cash, tax refunds, and other assets that don’t fit a named category.

Schedules D and E/F: What You Owe

Your liabilities are split across two schedules based on whether a debt is backed by collateral. For every creditor on both forms, you supply the creditor’s name, mailing address, the last four digits of the account number, the date the debt was incurred, and the current balance.⁶

Secured Debts

Schedule D is for debts tied to collateral. Mortgages, car loans, and home equity lines go here. For each entry, describe the collateral, the full amount of the claim, the current value of the collateral, and the nature of the lien, whether it comes from a loan agreement, a court judgment, a tax lien, or another source.⁶ Indicate whether the claim is disputed, contingent, or not yet determined in amount.

Priority and General Unsecured Debts

Schedule E/F covers debts not backed by collateral, split into priority claims and general unsecured claims. Priority claims get paid before general unsecured creditors in a Chapter 7 liquidation and receive special treatment in a Chapter 13 plan.

For individual filers, the most common priority claims are domestic support obligations such as child support and alimony, and tax debts owed to federal, state, or local governments.⁷ General unsecured claims cover the debts most people associate with financial trouble: credit card balances, medical bills, personal loans, utility arrears, and deficiency balances after a repossession or foreclosure.

For each creditor, the form asks whether the debt is a consumer debt (incurred for personal or household purposes) or a business debt.⁸ That classification matters because the means test and certain Chapter 7 eligibility rules apply only when your debts are primarily consumer debts.⁹

Schedule H: Codebtors

If anyone else shares responsibility for a debt listed on Schedules D, E/F, or G, that person goes on Schedule H. Codebtors include co-signers, guarantors, and anyone jointly liable on a loan or lease.¹⁰ For each, provide a name and address and identify the related creditor.

In a joint case where spouses file together, you don’t list your spouse as a codebtor. A spouse or former spouse who lived with you in a community property state within the past eight years only appears on Schedule H if that person was a guarantor or co-signer on the debt, not merely because community property law may have created shared liability.¹⁰ Your bankruptcy filing doesn’t eliminate a codebtor’s obligation, which is why disclosing them accurately matters.

Schedules I and J: Income and Expenses

Schedule I captures current monthly income from every source: wages, self-employment income, rental income, government benefits, pensions, and contributions from anyone else in your household. In a joint case, both spouses’ income goes on the form. Schedule J itemizes monthly living expenses: housing, food, transportation, insurance, childcare, medical costs, and similar spending.

The gap between the two is your monthly disposable income. In Chapter 13, that number drives how much your plan must pay creditors. In Chapter 7, it feeds the means test that determines whether you qualify for liquidation or should file under Chapter 13 instead.⁹

Valuing Property So the Numbers Hold Up

How you value property carries real consequences. Overstate values and you reduce what exemptions can protect. Understate them and you invite accusations of fraud. The general standard is fair market value: what a willing buyer would pay a willing seller when neither is under pressure.

For personal property in Chapter 7 or Chapter 13, the Bankruptcy Code applies a more specific standard called replacement value, meaning the price a retail merchant would charge for similar property given its age and condition, without deducting any costs of sale.¹¹ In practice, for household goods and electronics, this tracks what you’d see at a thrift store or used-goods retailer, not the original purchase price.

For vehicles, industry pricing guides like Kelley Blue Book and NADA are widely accepted. Real estate valuations typically rely on recent comparable sales, a tax assessment, or a formal appraisal. A professional home appraisal generally runs $675 to $1,150, and the trustee may request one if your estimate looks off. Keep documentation of how you arrived at every figure.

Documents to Pull Before You Fill Anything In

The forms ask for your estimates, but the trustee will expect you to back those numbers up. Gather these records first:

Bank and investment statements showing balances as of the filing date for every account
All payment evidence received from employers within 60 days before filing, which federal law requires you to submit¹
Vehicle titles and loan statements confirming ownership and outstanding balances
Property deeds and mortgage statements showing current balances and liens
The two most recent years of tax returns, which the trustee will review
Current credit card and loan statements for every debt

Discrepancies between schedules and documents invite scrutiny. If a bank statement shows $4,200 and your schedule says $1,500, the trustee will ask about the difference. Organize your records before you touch the forms.

Amending After You File

You can amend any schedule at any time before the case is closed.¹² After filing an amendment, you must notify the trustee and any creditor affected by the change, and the clerk sends a copy of every amendment to the U.S. Trustee.

Common reasons include discovering a forgotten debt, correcting a value, adding an omitted creditor, or updating income that changed between preparation and filing. An amendment isn’t an admission of wrongdoing, and courts expect some in complex cases. What draws scrutiny is a pattern of amendments that always benefit the debtor, or an amendment made only after the trustee asks pointed questions about a specific asset. If you spot an error, amend promptly.

What Happens If the Schedules Are Wrong

Consequences depend on whether the error was honest or intentional. An honest mistake usually leads to a request for an amendment or more documentation. If the error affects case administration, the court may delay proceedings until the schedules are corrected. These are fixable problems.

Intentional concealment is a different category. The court can deny your discharge under 11 U.S.C. 727, so you complete the entire process and still owe every debt.¹³ Making a false oath or concealing property in a bankruptcy case is also a federal crime carrying up to five years in prison.¹⁴ The warning on the official forms spells out the broader exposure: bankruptcy fraud can result in fines up to $500,000 or imprisonment for up to 20 years.¹⁵ Trustees routinely cross-check bank records and property transfers, so the arithmetic on hiding assets never favors the debtor.

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 U.S.C. 521 – Debtor’s Duties
2
United States Courts. Chapter 7 – Bankruptcy Basics
3
Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure Rule 1007 – Lists, Schedules, Statements, and Other Documents; Time to File
4
United States Courts. Schedule C – The Property You Claim as Exempt
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 U.S.C. 522 – Exemptions
6
United States Courts. Schedule D – Creditors Who Have Claims Secured by Property
7
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 U.S.C. 507 – Priorities
8
United States Courts. Interim Bankruptcy Rule 1007-I
9
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 U.S.C. 707 – Dismissal of a Case or Conversion
10
United States Courts. Schedule H – Your Codebtors
11
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 U.S.C. 506 – Determination of Secured Status
12
Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure Rule 1009 – Amending a Voluntary Petition, List, Schedule, or Statement
13
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 U.S.C. 727 – Discharge
14
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S.C. 152 – Concealment of Assets; False Oaths and Claims; Bribery
15
United States Courts. Official Form 202 – Declaration Under Penalty of Perjury for Non-Individual Debtors