What's the Purpose of Collecting AKAs, FAKA, DBA, etc?

One item of information gathered during the process of preparing a bankruptcy case are alias and alternative names for the individual debtor. Alternative names (AKA, also known as and FAKA, formerly also known as) might include maiden names, middle names used as first names, or other "aliases". Business names (DBA, doing business as and FDBA formerly doing business as) are the trade names a sole proprietor uses, in contrast to the names of organized business entities such as LLCs and corporations. If an sole proprietorship has a tax id, an EIN, that number is also included.

This information is required by the official forms and under Bankruptcy Rule 1005. The court uses it within certain notices, including the notice of case itself and the order of discharge.

This use by the court highlights the value in including comprehensive alternative names within a bankruptcy petition. A goal in a bankruptcy case is to get creditors to leave oneself alone with a minimal amount of additional effort. If a creditor doesn't have the debtor's individual legal name or social security number, the creditor might fail to associate the notice from the court with the debt being stay or discharged, leading to further collection activity.