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Filing a Chapter 13 Case: What Goes in the Petition vs. the E-Filing Packet

When you file a Chapter 13 case through Glade, your documents reach the court in two ways: some are compiled into a single petition PDF, and the rest are filed automatically as their own separate docket entries. This article explains which documents belong where, so your petition entry stays clean and the court never receives duplicates.

Overview

Bankruptcy courts expect the voluntary petition, the schedules, and their supporting statements to arrive as one document, and they expect the Chapter 13 plan, the means test, and the attorney fee disclosure to arrive as their own separate filings. Glade handles the separate filings for you automatically through the electronic filing packet. The one thing to get right on your end is the petition compile step: only include the petition and its schedules, and let the packet do the rest.

The rule of thumb: if a document appears as its own row in the electronic filing packet, do not also add it to the petition PDF. Adding it in both places files it twice, and the clerk's office will have to remove the extra copies from your petition entry.

How It Works

Step 1: Compile the petition

When you reach "Prepare petition for submission," select only these documents:

  • Form 101 (Voluntary Petition)
  • Schedules A/B, C, D, E/F, G, H, I, and J
  • 106Sum (Summary of Assets and Liabilities)
  • 106Dec (Declaration About Schedules)
  • 107 (Statement of Financial Affairs)
  • Verification of Creditor Matrix
  • Signature pages
  • Only when they apply: 101A/101B (eviction judgment) and J-2 (joint case where Debtor 2 keeps a separate household)

Do not select the Chapter 13 plan, the means test (122C-1 or 122C-2), the attorney fee disclosure (2030), the Social Security statement (121), the credit counseling certificate, or paystubs. Leave your retainer, client uploads (tax returns, bank statements, IDs), old petition drafts, and other files unselected too; those are never filed with the petition.

Step 2: Review the electronic filing packet

After the petition is compiled, open the Electronic filing packet. If the header says "No filing district set," click "Set filing district" and choose your case's district. The packet then fills in automatically, one row per document: your petition PDF, the creditor and debtor files, the Social Security statement, the credit counseling certificate, the means test, the fee disclosure, the Chapter 13 plan, and the pay advices. Each row files with the court as its own docket entry.

Step 3: Run pre-filing review and file

You should not need to add anything to the packet by hand. If a required document is missing, the pre-filing review will flag it before you file, so only add something when the system asks you to.

Key Details

  • Why the petition PDF must stay lean: the court dockets your compiled petition as a single entry. If the plan, means test, or fee disclosure are inside it, the court receives them twice (once inside the petition and once as their own entries), and the clerk's office must strip the duplicates out.
  • The certificate of compliance for plan confirmation (LF-67 in the Southern District of Florida) is never filed with the petition. It requires your case number and the confirmation hearing date, which do not exist yet on filing day. Prepare it after the court sets your confirmation hearing, and file it by the deadline in the order setting that hearing.
  • Emergency (skeleton) filings: the "Use skeleton petition" option files just Form 101, the creditor matrix, the Social Security statement, and the counseling certificate. The schedules, statements, plan, and pay advices then follow as separate filings within 14 days.
  • The Social Security statement never goes inside the petition PDF. It contains the debtor's full SSN and is filed as a restricted entry on its own.

FAQ

Q: The court told us not to attach the plan, means test, and disclosure to the voluntary petition. Did those documents get filed?
A: Yes. Glade files each of them as its own docket entry automatically, so your case is complete. The court's note means the extra copies inside the petition PDF were removed; nothing needs to be refiled. To avoid the note in the future, leave those documents out of the petition compile step.

Q: Do I need to add the plan to the packet myself?
A: No. The packet fills in automatically once your documents are generated and the filing district is set. If something is missing, pre-filing review will tell you.

Q: What if I accidentally included one of these in the petition PDF?
A: Reopen "Prepare petition for submission," unselect it, and recompile the petition before filing.