It depends. In most Chapter 7 cases, there are no assets available for payment of creditor claims. To minimize the amount of paperwork, the Clerk of the Bankruptcy Court will generally instruct creditors when to file proofs of claim. If you did not receive notice of the bankruptcy from the Clerk of the Court, you may want to file a proof of claim to ensure that you receive notices from the Clerk which may affect your claim. However, there are situations where filing a proof of claim limits your options in the event you are subject to a demand to repay a payment made by or on behalf of a debtor prior to the bankruptcy filing which is alleged to be preferential. Therefore, to be safe, file a proof of claim when you receive notice of a deadline, and contact our attorneys if you think you may be subject to claims by the debtor before you file a claim.