Post-Filing Debtor Education Course

Under bankruptcy law, you are required to complete a debtor education course from an approved agency no later than 60 days after the first scheduled date of your meeting of creditors. Please note this is different than the credit counseling course described in the “pre-clinic” section of the website.

BE Adviser, an approved provider of the debtor education course, provides the required counseling through an easy-to-use online course. It is easy to sign up for the Debtor education course and once you start, the program can be paused for you to finish later on. The program takes approximately one (1) hour and the total cost for this course is $9.76 per person if you complete the course using a computer. You may be charged more if you use a mobile device. Instructions on how to complete the post-filing debtor education course are as follows:

Step 1: Go to www.beadviser.com and sign up for an account by entering your personal
information. You will need your bankruptcy case number and jurisdiction information (Western District of New York). At the time of registration, you can choose to have your Certificate of Completion emailed, mailed or faxed to you.
Step 2: After reading through, click “continue” to accept the disclaimer.
Step 3: Now you are ready to begin!                                                                                                                  Step 4: File your certificate of completion (F with the bankruptcy court.

Disclaimer: WNYLC is not affiliated with Be Adviser, however we have been using them for a long time and find that their debtor education course is simple to complete and affordable.

Click here for a list of other Western District of New York (NYW) approved debtor education agencies.

Filing Your Certificate of Completion

After you take the course, you must file Official Form 423: Certification About a Financial Management Course with the court, which can be downloaded here. The debtor education course provider will provide you with a Form 423, and may file it on your behalf for an extra charge.

If you are filing with your spouse, each of you must take the course and two Official Forms, one for each debtor, must be filed.

Failure to file the Official Form 423 certification may result in the case being closed without an entry of discharge.