EXHIBIT 7 1 Flow Chart for Chapter 12 The Filing of the Chapter 12 Petition The debtor files with the bankruptcy court clerk s office: 1. Filing fee and administrative fee 2. Voluntary petition (Official Form No. B1) (including Exhibit C, if the debtor has some connection to hazardous waste), and statement of Social Security Number (Official Form No. B21) 3. Statement disclosing compensation paid or to be paid to the attorney for the debtor 4. Notice to debtor by bankruptcy petition preparer, if applicable, and statement disclosing compensation paid or to be paid to a bankruptcy petition preparer, if applicable 5. Notice to individual debtor with primarily consumer debts under 11 U.S.C.A. 342(b), if applicable 6. Certificate of credit counseling and debt repayment plan if the debtor is an individual 7. List of creditors 8. Schedules a. Summary of schedules b. Schedule A. Real property c. Schedule B. Personal property d. Schedule C. Property claimed as exempt e. Schedule D. Creditors holding secured claims f. Schedule E. Creditors holding unsecured priority claims g. Schedule F. Creditors holding unsecured nonpriority claims h. Schedule G. Executory contracts and unexpired leases i. Schedule H. Codebtors j. Schedule I. Current income of individual debtor(s) k. Schedule J. Current expenditures of individual debtor(s) 9. Statement of financial affairs (Official Form No. B7) 10. Copies of all payment advices on other evidence of payment received by the debtor from any employee within 60 days before the filing of the petition if the debtor is an individual 11. Chapter 12 plan If the petition is accompanied by the list of creditors, the debtor has up to 15 days to file items 3, 5, 8, 9 and 10 and has up to 90 days to file item 11 The debtor has a duty to supplement the schedules for certain property acquired after the petition has been filed Prior to the time the case is closed, the debtor may amend the petition, lists, schedules, and statement of financial affairs Prior to confirmation, the debtor may modify the plan Upon filing of the voluntary petition, which constitutes an order for relief, an estate is created and the automatic stay and the codebtor stay go into effect, protecting the estate from dismemberment and the debtor and the codebtor from collection procedures The standing Chapter 12 trustee, or another individual if there is no standing Chapter 12 trustee, or the U.S. trustee will serve as the trustee in the case The debtor remains in possession of property of the estate as the debtor in possession (DIP) The clerk of the bankruptcy court mails to the debtor, the debtor s attorney, the trustee, all creditors, and the U.S. trustee: 1. notice of the filing of the Chapter 12 bankruptcy case; 2. an explanation of the automatic stay and the codebtor stay; 3. the date, time, and location of the meeting of creditors; 4. the deadline for filing proofs of claim; 5. the deadline for filing objections to the debtor s claim of exemptions; and 6. the date, time, and location of the hearing on confirmation of the plan
An eligible debtor may convert the case to Chapter 7, 11, or 13 or the debtor may move to dismiss the case or move for a change of venue A party in interest (including creditors, the trustee, and the U.S. trustee) may move to dismiss the case, for abstention by the court, for a change of venue, for examination of any entity, or to convert the case to Chapter 7, 11, or 13 Meeting of Creditors The meeting of creditors is to be held not less than 20 nor more than 35 days after the Chapter 12 petition has been filed The business of the meeting of creditors includes the examination of the debtor under oath Fresh Start for the Debtor (Discharge) Administration of the Estate Within 60 days after the first date set for the meeting of creditors, a creditor may file a complaint objecting to the dischargeability of a debt The debtor remains in possession of the property of the estate While the case is open, the debtor may file a complaint to determine the dischargeability of a debt or may move to avoid a judicial lien or to avoid a nonpossessory, nonpurchase money security interest in certain items of personal property, to the extent that such lien impairs exceptions to which the debtor would have been entitled The debtor is required to file periodic reports on forms as required by the U.S. trustee or the court As the debtor receives income, the debtor begins making payments as proposed by the plan Within 30 days after the conclusion of the meeting of creditors or within 30 days after any amendment is filed, whichever is later, a party in interest may object to the debtor s claim of exemptions A creditor may file a proof of claim, subject to the statutory deadline A creditor may move for relief from the automatic stay or for relief from the codebtor stay A creditor, trustee, U.S. trustee, or the debtor may move for disallowance of a claim or for abandonment of an asset from the estate (Continued)
The debtor may move for permission to use cash collateral or to use, sell, or lease property The debtor in possession may file a complaint to avoid unperfected security interests, statutory liens that arise upon the debtor s insolvency, prepetition preferential transfers of property of the debtor, prepetition transfers of property of the debtor that are fraudulent under the Bankruptcy Code or state law, and postpetition transfers of property of the estate that are not authorized by the bankruptcy court or Bankruptcy Code The debtor in possession may file a motion to assume or reject executory contracts or unexpired leases Parties in interest may object to confirmation of the plan Confirmation Hearing Within 45 days of the filing of the plan, the court shall conduct a confirmation hearing at which time the court may confirm or deny confirmation of the debtor s plan If the court confirms the plan, all the property of the estate vests in the debtor except as otherwise provided in the plan or confirmation order If the court rejects the plan, the debtor may be afforded an opportunity to file an amended plan or the case may be converted to another chapter or dismissed
Trustee s Distribution Under the Plan Once the debtor has paid to the trustee enough disposable income, the trustee may begin making payments if the claims filing deadline has expired and the allowance of claims is determined At any time after confirmation of the plan but before the completion of plan, the plan may be modified upon the request of the debtor, the trustee, or the holder of an allowed unsecured claim Within 180 days of the entry of the confirmation order, a party in interest may request revocation of the order on the basis of fraud After completion of all plan, the trustee will notify the court that all payments have been made and request that the debtor be given a discharge The debtor is unable to complete making all plan The debtor may move for a hardship discharge The debtor may move to convert the case to another chapter The court may dismiss the case (Continued)
Full Compliance Discharge After completion of plan, the court shall grant the debtor a discharge of debts except those debts on which the last payment is due after the date on which the final payment under the plan is due, a debt that is nondischargeable under 11 U.S.C.A. 523(a)(5), (8), (9), and for restitution or a criminal fine Hardship Discharge If the debtor is unable to complete payments under the plan due to circumstances for which the debtor should not be held accountable, the best interests test has been met, and modification of the plan is not practicable, the debtor may move for a discharge from all debts other than those debts on which the last payment is due after the date on which the final payment under the plan would have been due and unsecured debts that would be nondischargeable under Chapter 7 The court enters an order discharging the debtor Upon the completion of plan, the trustee files a final report and final account certifying that the estate has been fully administered. Notice of the filing of the final report and the final account is given to all parties in interest. If there is no objection filed within 30 days, the case is closed. A party in interest may request revocation of the discharge for fraud within one year after the discharge is granted After the case is closed, it may be amended or reopened for cause with or without the appointment of a trustee