February 1, 2006 - Critical Update

On February 13, 2006, our policy regarding the Automatic Upload feature (one-touch electronic case filing) changes. As of that date, in order to use the Automatic Upload feature, your EZ-UpKeep™ subscription must be current. Please understand that EZ-Filing, Inc. never prevents you from electronically filing a case, but if you want to take advantage of our automated electronic filing, your EZ-UpKeep™ subscription must be current.

Why February 13^th? On that date, the new national and local standards and median income figures (provided by the Department of Justice and the Executive Office of the United States Trustee in conjunction with the Internal Revenue Service) take effect. Bankruptcy trustees will apply the new tables to cases filed on and after that date. The update that we will make available by February 13, 2006 incorporates the new standards and income tables; therefore, it is imperative that you install the update before filing any cases on or after that date. Otherwise, the data used for critical means test calculations will be obsolete. By now, you are well aware of the emphasis attached to the means test calculations by the US Trustee’s office—filing a means test based on obsolete figures exposes your client to potential case-threatening actions from the court.

Why the new policy? Previously, when an individual court made a change to its forms, ECF system, or local rule requirement, the EZ-Filing® program would require an update for only that particular district. As you can imagine, maintaining 94 different versions of the software, in addition to all the changes resulting from BAPCPA, is becoming an insurmountable task.

If your subscription is current, you can obtain the update simply by downloading it: just select “Check for Updates” from the Help menu. (If your subscription has expired, the program will inform you accordingly.) If you are on our CD subscription, your update disk will arrive by February 13.