Bankeruptcy questions

[devonfry1]

Has anyone filed Ch.7 by themselves, without the use of an attorney and if so would you reccommend it to someone else or should I hire an attorney? Also, can you go bankerupt against the irs and state taxes??? If anyone has any answers I would appreciate it! :o

[Dawn1970]

can you go bankerupt against the irs and state taxes???

No, unfortunately. State and government taxes are not dischargeable debts. You can't include them in your bankruptcy.

I think plenty of people do file BK on their own. Personally I used a lawyer but I know there surely are some 'success stories' on here who filed their own, so hopefully some of them will speak up. Good luck to you.

[HHM]

You can do it by yourself if your case is fairly straightforward. I would never recommend a person do a chap 13 on their own, but a chapter 7 can be reasonably done by a person w/o a lawyer. The forms are fairly self explanatory. But if you have any odd assets, are behind on payments to your car, house, or lease, you should probably go to an attorney.

But I hesitate recommending a person do a BK pro se because the consequences for screwing up a BK can be fairly severe.