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1. Please remember to include the “or more” language under estimated payment amounts in sections 3.1(b), 3.2, 3.3, 5.2 and 6.1
   
   
2. Section 3.1(b) – Please make sure your plan includes all of the following language under estimated amount of arrearage: “Includes amounts accrued through the (Month/Year) payment.” However, please do not add the words “resumption date” because the regular payments will automatically resume the month following after the (month/year) you put in this section
   
   
3. Section 3.1(d) – Check this box if there is loan modification language in section 8.1
   
   
4. Section 3.1(e) – Check this box if there is a secured creditor being treated in 8.1
   
   
5. Section 3.2 – When valuing secured claims, the “estimated amount of secured claim,” column 6, is the number that matters. Unless there are senior liens, this amount should match the “value of collateral” in column 4. If the dollar amount in column 6 is the same as column 2, “estimated amount of creditor’s total claim,” then that means the plan is paying the debt in full, and the treatment must be moved to 3.3 instead. See below:
   
   
   
   
6. Section 3.3 – Remember to check one of the boxes specifying if payments will be “disbursed by Trustee or Debtor”
   
   
7. Section 3.4 – (lien avoidance) Please include the dollar amount of the exemption in column 4 as well as the appropriate statute. Also, in the last column, please use “100%” or “all” instead of a dollar amount, as the claim may not match your figure.
   
   
8. Section 4.3(b) – please do not include any attorney fee amounts if you are being paid pursuant to the expedited fee procedure
   
   
9. Section 4.4 – Please check at least one box in this section. The plan was revised to include a check box in front of “Other Priority Debt” so one or more of the 3 boxes should be checked
   
   
10. Section 5.3 – Student loans being paid outside the plan in a 100% plan should be listed here with all sections completed. Please also specifically state that the student loan creditors will not receive any payments through the plan from the Trustee. If the student loans are treated instead in section 8.1, you must specifically state that the student loan creditors will not receive any payments through the plan from the Trustee, and also remember to check the “other” box in section 5.3
    
    
11. Section 8.1 – If you include any unapproved nonconforming language in this section, a hearing will be required for Judge Burris to rule on its inclusion in the plan. However, certain nonconforming language has previously been approved and does not require a hearing: click here to see it
    
    Also, if there is anything in 8.1, please make sure your plan includes all the italicized language below that is part of the form plan:
    
    
    • Under Bankruptcy Rule 3015(c), nonstandard provisions must be set forth below. A nonstandard provision is a provision not otherwise included in this form or deviating from it. Nonstandard provisions set out elsewhere in this plan are ineffective.
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    • The following plan provisions will be effective only if there is a check in the box “Included” in 1.3.
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12. Please don’t forget to include all of the changes in the top right corner of the first page – you only need to identify the paragraph number(s) with changes
    
    
13. Many County tax claims are being filed as secured. If they are filed as secured, they need plan treatment
    
    
14. For Judge Burris cases, please do not include the debtor statement in support of confirmation language or the notice language regarding confirmed plan vs. proof of claim in 8.1. She has refused to confirm plans that contain this language in the past
    
    

If you are filing an Amended Plan before the original confirmation hearing has taken place, and the new plan is filed more than 28 days prior to the originally-scheduled confirmation hearing, you do not need to file or serve a Notice of Confirmation Hearing with the new plan. (That is almost the ONLY time you do not have to file a separate Notice of Confirmation Hearing with an amended plan.)

If the date you file the Amended Plan is less than 28 days prior to the original confirmation hearing, then there isn’t enough time for it to be heard on the original hearing date. Therefore, you will need file and serve a new Notice of Confirmation Hearing along with the Amended Plan, choosing the next available hearing date that is more than 28 days after you file the plan. You have to serve all creditors with both the new plan and the Notice of Confirmation Hearing. Make sure the Notice of Confirmation Hearing includes the date of the plan it refers to.

After the original confirmation hearing has already occurred, but before the case is confirmed, every time you file a new plan, you will also need to file and serve a new Notice of Confirmation Hearing along with the Amended Plan, choosing the next available hearing date that is more than 28 days after you file the plan. You have to serve all creditors with both the new plan and the Notice of Confirmation Hearing. Make sure the Notice of Confirmation Hearing includes the date of the plan it refers to.

After the case is confirmed, every time you file a new plan, you will also need to file and serve a Motion to Modify Plan After Confirmation and Opportunity for Hearing along with the Amended Plan, choosing the next available hearing date that is more than 28 days after you file the plan. You have to serve the Amended Plan together with the Motion to Modify only on creditors who are or may be adversely affected by the modification.

THE PLAN DATE MUST ALWAYS BE INCLUDED IN THE FIRST SENTENCE OF THE NOTICE OF HEARING.