Should I hire an attorney for my BK?

[samcor]

My husband has been out of work for quite a while. We have over $100 in business and personal debt. We are considering filing Chapter 7 but have very limited income coming in to pay for an attorney. Is it a bad idea to file Chapter 7 by myself or is it in my best interest to hire an attorney? I live in California (Orange County) and am wondering how to find a good BK attorney to talk to. I've asked around by haven't gotten any referrals. We're also 4 months behind on our mortgage. We'd like to save our home if possible but not sure if we can keep it if we file BK.

Thank you, Amy

[TEW]

samcor
There are a lot of people that file pro se on the forum. Before you decide have a couple of free consults with BK attorneys they can give to a good idea how your case will be. It definitely isn’t imposable

[boiler704]

My husband has been out of work for quite a while. We have over $100 in business and personal debt. We are considering filing Chapter 7 but have very limited income coming in to pay for an attorney. Is it a bad idea to file Chapter 7 by myself or is it in my best interest to hire an attorney? I live in California (Orange County) and am wondering how to find a good BK attorney to talk to. I've asked around by haven't gotten any referrals. We're also 4 months behind on our mortgage. We'd like to save our home if possible but not sure if we can keep it if we file BK.

Thank you, Amy

I'm guessing you mean 100k in debt. . . but depending on how complicated case your case is (want to keep house and have a business) it can reduce a lot of stress having an attorney.

You might be able to do it alone but go ahead and consult with a few lawyers for free first to get an idea of how complicated your case will be

[DaisyMae]

How can you keep your house if you are 4 months delinquent?

Where will you get the money to bring that current? You have to bring that current to keep your house in BK. In the meanwhile tho- things are happening daily here and there, lenders allowing old payments to be placed at the end of the loan, Bank of America is dropping certain mortgages from Countrywide to be no more that a % of your income, other lenders are forgiving this or reducing that- so if you have mortgage trouble you ought to pay close attention to your lender, financial news, etc. for stuff that is happening. And also you may decide you really don't want to keep the house if you are upside down- you can actually rent a similar house lots of places for half what some mortgage payments are- and the purpose of filing is to increase your quality if life, not to continue to struggle...