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Do it yourself bankruptcy

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spoiler

Member
I do know that they are a bad idea. most bankruptcy courts are not looking on these forms fondly and some think they are promoting bankruptcy fraud. Plus...one small mistake in your bankruptcy papers and you could have a big problem. If you feel you have no other choice then to file pro se then go and get the bankruptcy book by Nolo Press that will walk you through the process.
I would still urge you to go and get a few free consultations with a few lawyers.
 

1clicklegal

Junior Member
giggle50 said:
Bankruptcy is highly technical and specialized. Do yourself a favor and leave the matter to a bankruptcy lawyer

Wow, another find a lawyer site. Never seen one of those befoie.
To answer your question, try Yahoo for the term "learn about bankrutpcy"
Pay attention to the number one listing in the organic results.

Best of luck and remember.... LIFE GETS BETTER!
 

maryoka

Junior Member
Bankrupt

I recently went through Chapter 7 after advice given to me by my oldest brother. He then said I should try to file the papers myself. I am glad I did not listen to that advice. You are stressed out enough and do not need the hassle or worry of making mistakes in something as important as this is to your own financial future. Get a good lawyer and let him do his job it is well worth it. I still have questions about keeping my vehicle and I guess you need to reaffirm your loan with that company but I do not know yet. The only ones who showed up at my court hearing for this was none other then the loan company for my truck! They wanted to know if I had insurance on the vehicle..Of course I have insurance I would not drive without it on there. The laws of course are changing and so be careful is the key to anything with bankruptcy....good luck to all who go through this process you will need it....I also refinanced my mortgage before I did the bankruptcy thing and was a foolish thing to do because now my mortgage payments are very high but I can keep my house and I paid off half my truck loan too. I am from Minnesota.
 

Karrhod

Junior Member
Do it yourself

Arizona
I am in the prossess right now with a do it yourself bankrupcy. If you can follow instructions and not get stressed out then I say it's worth it..I got free forms online and manuals to do this..When I filed our petition I asked all the questions I had written down, the clerk was very helpful. They also have computers in the lobby to do it at the clerks office. The clerk gave a sheet to follow for listing our creditors, I have ten days to file that and 15 days to file the schedules, It does have alot of time involved, I have been doing it for 3 weeks but I was searching the internet to get all the free advice and forms I could find. I do have the information if you would like to have it. I also have 3 months in which to pay the 209.00 filing fee. and did not have to give them any money when I filed the petition. If you have alot of assets that are not exempt then you should probably get a lawyer to give you advice on turning as much as possible into exempt property before filing, but do it soon whatever it is.. We do have a home we are reaffirming but you can get free advice on how to do this properly just ask questions
 

Chaos&frustrate

Junior Member
I did the do it yourself.

Hey, I did the do-it-yourself bankruptcy kit with no problem. I followed the instructions and went downtown and filed it myself. I am in Georgia too. Lawyers are charging close to a $1000 dollars. If I had that kind of money, I wouldn't be filing bankruptcy. My mother recently filed with a lawyer. It was awful. He told her to put her car in the bankruptcy even though she wasnt giving it up, and she had to fight for the car, the lawyer didnt even help. If you go under Socrates.com, you can download the info and file it yourself.
 

Karrhod

Junior Member
do it urself bankrupcy I will also keep u posted on what is happening with mine so u will know what to expect
 

Quddus702

Junior Member
i filed my bankruptcy myself. With no problems. I am scheduled for a hearing next week. Get your credit report and list every creditor on there. Mine was such a breeze because I had no property or anything like that. So all I was trying to do is discharge my debts.

If I had property or a car payments or something like that I may have got a lawyer. I am glad I did it now. Because I could not afford to pay a lawyer $1000 right now anyways.

If your situation is complex I say don't do it yourself.
 

monsieurrick

Junior Member
doing it yourself bk...

not a good idea and i'm not being self-serving. here'w why. as a legal document preparer based in phoenix, and all across the usa, paralegals or legal document preparers as we are termed, are authorized by the us congress to prepare and file bankruptcy petitions for individuals. the problem from our point of view is that the trustees and judges have limited our fees so that we can only charge about $200 for preparing the petition and related schedules. from your point of view, $200 is not worth trying to file it yourself and screw it up and you will...i could agree if you were being charged $1000 or more as most atty do, then it might be worth taking the time and trouble to file it yourself...but not for $200. Not!

give us a shot...i,personally, have prepared more than 1000 bks in calif, az, nv, nc, etc. and over the past 15 years and have never had a problem with any petition. not!

for free info please feel free to consult my sites and if you need assistance please call for a free consultation...http://www.equalaccesstothelaw.com or http://www.bankruptcypreparers.com

be your own lawyer...your decisions, our paperwork.

good luck, rick
 
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Ladynred

Senior Member
There's one BIG problem with having a paralegal or 'preparer' do your forms - they CANNOT PRACTICE LAW ! They cannot advise you on the law (illegal practice of law), and they cannot help you in court if anything goes haywire. They also do NOT know anything about the habits and character of the Trustees in your area, and a lawyer that knows what a Trustee will look for, will pick on, or even what their mood is generally like is quite valuable.

Filing yourself CAN be done but even the simplest of cases can go wrong with one mistake. Many people DO file w/o a lawyer or a paralegal and they do so successfully, but you CANNOT go into this kind of thing thinking its a cake-walk - its FAR from it. You need to READ, READ, READ, do your research, read the BK code too. Do you know what expenses and at what levels are acceptable in your area ? No, but a lawyer does. A good bankruptcy lawyer can take one look at your budget and tell you what will and will not pass muster with a Trustee.

You CAN pay the filing fee in installments. You CAN pay the lawyer's fee in installments, but most won't file until you're paid in full. There ARE lawyers who will do BK cases pro bono, and you MAY qualify for legal aid to help you.

I know quite a bit about bankruptcy and the process, but there's no way I'd file bankruptcy w/o a lawyer !
 

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