What does the student loan attestation form ask?

What is the form for?

In a case about a federal student loan, government attorneys recommend a discharge when three conditions are met: you cannot repay now, that is likely to continue, and you acted in good faith in past attempts to repay. The form collects what the attorney needs to judge each one.2

You get the chance to complete it once you have started the lawsuit inside your bankruptcy case, called an adversary proceeding. The Department of Education sends your account history and loan details, and those are given to you with the form. The attorney is not required to set a strict time limit for returning it.2

Work from the copy on the Justice Department's own site. The form is revised from time to time, and the expense amounts printed in it are updated every year.3 1

How is the form laid out?

The order follows the order of the analysis, which makes the form easier to read than it first looks.1

What does it ask about you and your loans?

The first part asks where you live, including your county, and who is in your household, including you. Household size matters later, because the expense amounts the form compares you against depend on the number of people in your household.1

For the loan balance, monthly payment, school and degree questions, you do not start from a blank page. The Department of Education supplies that information through the government's attorney. If you agree it is accurate, you can simply confirm it. If you have not received it, or it is wrong, you answer from your own knowledge.1

What does it ask about income and expenses?

This is the longest part, and it feeds a direct comparison. The attorney works out your allowable expenses using IRS standards and compares them with your household gross income. If allowable expenses exceed gross income, the first condition is met.2

• Income: your current monthly household gross income from all sources, before payroll deductions, including what other household members bring in. You attach your most recent tax return, recent paystubs or other proof.1
• A shortcut: if you filed Schedule I in your bankruptcy case within the past 18 months and your income has not changed, you may refer to it.1
• Living expenses: whether your spending on food, housekeeping supplies, clothing, personal care, miscellaneous items and uninsured medical costs is above or below amounts listed on the form.1
• Actual costs: what you pay for payroll deductions, housing, transportation and other necessary expenses such as court-ordered support, childcare, health insurance and dependent care.1
• The result: what income is left after those expenses, and any additional monthly expenses you expect for basic needs that are not being met now.1

Spending more than a listed amount is not the end of the matter. The form lets you explain why the extra is necessary, and the guidance says a reasonable explanation is to be considered carefully and may be accepted.1 2

The unmet-needs item matters if you are getting by on less than you need, for example by staying with family or going without healthcare. The attorney is told to use those projected expenses.2

What does it ask about your future?

One item is a checklist of the reasons it should be presumed that your finances are unlikely to improve: age 65 or older, loans in repayment for at least 10 years, not completing the degree, a disability or chronic injury affecting your income potential, and unemployment for at least five of the past ten years. Several of these ask for a short description.1

The next item covers other reasons: your school has closed, you are not currently employed, you cannot get work in your field, your income is too low and unlikely to rise enough, or other circumstances you explain.1

Both items say to answer all that apply. The guidance advises disclosing every circumstance that fits you and not relying on a single presumption.1 2

What does it ask about your efforts to repay?

This part asks for the total you have paid since you received the loans, how many forbearances or deferments you applied for and how long they lasted, how many times you tried to contact your servicer or the Department of Education about options, and what you did to enroll in an income-driven repayment program.1

There is a separate item for people who did not enroll in such a program, where you give your reasons. Not enrolling does not by itself show a lack of good faith, and the attorney is expected to accept any reasonable explanation.1 2

A final item invites any other facts that show good faith, such as efforts to find work, raise your income or cut expenses. If a servicer gave you wrong information, this part is where to say so: the guidance tells attorneys not to disqualify borrowers who did not engage because of possible misinformation.1 2

What does it ask about what you own?

The assets part asks about real estate and what is owed on it, motor vehicles and their loans, the total in your retirement accounts, any interest in a company or other business entity, and any tax refund you expect.1

Listing an asset does not mean you will be asked to sell it. The guidance tells attorneys not to give decisive weight to assets that are hard to turn into cash or are critical to your well-being, and says requests to liquidate a primary residence or a retirement account should be exceptionally rare. Courts disagree about how exempt property counts, so ask a lawyer how your court treats it.2

The last item on the form is an open space for any other circumstances that support your request.1