Is it possible to file bk myself? Without paying for a laywer?

[2kidsrenough4us]

I think it can be done, i'm sure i's not easy but I cannot afford 2k or more for a layer to file bk for me.

any suggestions??
thanks

[hansky]

I think it can be done, i'm sure i's not easy but I cannot afford 2k or more for a layer to file bk for me.

any suggestions??
thanks

Can you file the initial paperwork? Yes. It is a smart move to try to do it yourself, and risk a dismissal (which puts you in a worse position that had it never been filed) or the loss of a discharge? Absolutely not. Not even a close call.

[lrprn]

I think it can be done, i'm sure i's not easy but I cannot afford 2k or more for a layer to file bk for me.

any suggestions??
thanks

If you have a simple, straightforward Chapter 7, then yes, it is possible after a lot of study to file on your own (it's called pro se = without a lawyer). You've provided some details in other posts - that you had a car repossessed, want to keep your house. That's not the simplest case to file, and if things don't go well, you will end up needing a lawyer that could have prevented problems to start with.

Some questions for you that will help us understand your situation better....
If you look back six months from today, how much income from all sources has your family made? What state are you living in? Have you lived there for more than two years? How much unsecured debt (credit cards, payday loans, etc) do you have? Are you current on your mortgage and car payments? Are you still using your credit cards?

This is a good time to make appointments with 3-4 bankruptcy-specialty lawyers in your area. Most give free initial consultations, so don't worry about the money. You will learn a great deal about what your options are and can see which lawyer is the most knowledgeable and works the best with you. You can find bk lawyers in your area by searching at http://www.martindale.com/Bankruptcy...countries.html - just click on your state. Also here's a list of questions to ask every lawyer during the first visit - http://research.lawyers.com/lawyer-i....html?site=537 .

Hang in there 2kids - many have taken this journey and not only survived it, emerged stronger than ever...you will too! Keep asking questions and vent as needed - we're here for you!

[2kidsrenough4us]

Wow, thank you so much for all of that information.
Basically our debt consists of,

Repo at 11k
A Dell pc that we defaulted on the payments at 2k
The rest are collections from catalogs & utility bills.

No credit cards debt.

We do have a few secured credit cards right now with very little limits that we are current on and never made a late payment. All of our bills are current right now it's just thaother stuff from about 3 yers ago when my husband was laid off and we were expecting our first child and it was either pay $550 a month for our car payment or buy groceries, so we did a voluntary repo in 2003. We lived in this house for 5 years and we have made about 36k in the past 6 months, in pa i belive we fall under the income means requirement so thats good. We were thinking about selling our house and make about 25k but we would not be able to buy another house because of our credit so we would need the money to rent a house. If we were sell our house and make a profit and decide to fil bk could they take that money?

thank you ery much for taking the timeout to answer my questions

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
(New years Eve and I'm writing on the bk forum) thats what happens when you have two kiddies, lol.

[SinkingFast]

Wow, thank you so much for all of that information.
Basically our debt consists of,

Repo at 11k
A Dell pc that we defaulted on the payments at 2k
The rest are collections from catalogs & utility bills.

No credit cards debt.

We do have a few secured credit cards right now with very little limits that we are current on and never made a late payment. All of our bills are current right now it's just thaother stuff from about 3 yers ago when my husband was laid off and we were expecting our first child and it was either pay $550 a month for our car payment or buy groceries, so we did a voluntary repo in 2003. We lived in this house for 5 years and we have made about 36k in the past 6 months, in pa i belive we fall under the income means requirement so thats good. We were thinking about selling our house and make about 25k but we would not be able to buy another house because of our credit so we would need the money to rent a house. If we were sell our house and make a profit and decide to fil bk could they take that money?

thank you ery much for taking the timeout to answer my questions

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
(New years Eve and I'm writing on the bk forum) thats what happens when you have two kiddies, lol.

If you are a family of 4, you may be a bit over the Median.

http://www.usdoj.gov/ust/eo/bapcpa/2...come_table.htm

As you'll see at that website, the Median for a family of 4 in PA is $68,646. Based on what you said, your avg income is $72K/yr.

Doesn't necessarily mean you would not pass the Means Test. Just means you'd have to have enough allowable secured and/or priority debt expenses to take care of the excess income.

As to the equity in your home,.............. PA does not have a Homestead Exemption. BUT, PA allows for filers to choose Federal Exemptions which would cover you if your equity is $25K as you said.

http://www.pennlawyer.com/exemptions.htm

[Grace]

With that much equity and that kind of income, is filing bankruptcy really what you want to do? If you pull the trigger on this now, you can't do it again for 8-10 years. What would happen if your husband got laid off again? No credit cards to fall back on.

Why not sell the house and pay off all the debts? It sounds like you'd even have money left over to put down on a less expensive place. Or you'd have a really nice emergency fund.

[2kidsrenough4us]

Yeah that makes sense, I guess we are just being greedy. Our plan is to sell the house and move to South Carolina, have a fresh start. Do depending on how fast we get obs most of the money will go toward our debt.

thanks everyone for the advice.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!