want to file pro se - but scared!

[cathywhite4495]

I'm a pro se filer as well. I was going to get a lawyer but no way I could afford it and once I bought some BK books and read them, I felt that I could do it myself. I think it all depends on your personal comfort zone. Buy and read the books and maybe fill out some of the forms as a practice and see how you feel. I have also gotten LOADS of help from the people on this forum!!! Don't forget to check for local rules on your district's BK site. There are often extra things or certain procedures specific to each court.
If you start feeling bad about filing pro se, go read some of the posts on people wanting to sue their lawyers!
FO7 and LadyCop - you are a great inspirations! I'm a special ed teacher at a small charter school and we get a lot of parents from the public school that come to us with horror stories of the schools not providing services like they should. If there's ever anything I could help you with on the school side - feel free to email me.

[CityGirl]

wow, you've really been forced to mature at such a young age. I can't in a million years imagine my 14 years old niece responsible enough to get married. No way!!!
Good Luck to you with your BK. I'm glad I'm fortunate enough to work 3 jobs and afford an attorney but if you can't, you can't. I just know I'd beg, borrow ( not steal ) but find a way to have someone represent me. It's so confusing with the new laws and I'd be shaking in my boots for sure!

[6ftladycop]

Living by Faith in God and Bankruptcy...amen!!!

I am a single grandmother/mom living with her daughter and twin girls who are special needs with autism and developmental delays. I know exactly what you are talking about. I was actually able to go through this once I realized that after prayer, if it was not meant to be, then god would reveal it to me. I felt no convictions and proceeded on.....and here I am today waiting for the 341 meeting on Aug-28-07. Yes, faith is something you definitely have to hold on to when going through a rough time.

I know this is difficult for all of us here, but believe me...the folks on this site have been very helpful to me. I read what they said, I prayed a lot, I had my up days and my down days but through it all, I just believed that this was the right thing to do and I went on with it. Things may seem bad or rough sometimes, but you and your husband seem like you have a good head on your shoulder. Getting into debt does not make anybody a bad person. You can see that from reading all that is here. These people are dedicated just as you and your husband are. Keep the faith. It will be o.k. in the end.

[familyof7]

No matter how bad you have it some one else is worse off. No matter how hard I fall God ALWAYS picks me up I am always better off in the long run than before any hard time I have been through. The Bible says ask in my name and you shall receive and your joy shall be complete. I always have what I need sometimes it is at the very last second right before I think I am going to give up but it is always just enough and never a day too late. My bankruptcy is over but I still stick around on this site because I have learned so much and want to help as much as I can because Bankruptcy is a very hard and sometimes scary situation. That is a chapter of my life that I am relieved is over I am imbarassed that i had to file but am proud of myself for doing it on my own without the assistance of an attorney and making it through it is very empowering to have done somthing so BIG on your own. I probally would not have been such a nervous wreck if I would have had attorney but like alot of people I did not have the money and I did result to begging but my family would not even help me pay to burry my child that passed so I did not really expect any help from them. I had to file and pro se was my ONLY option. this site helped alot.

[CityGirl]

Well, familyof7, you SHOULD be proud of yourself!!!!!!!:

And the part about God just giving you enough when you need it and not a day late is SOOOO TRUE!! He's come through for me in more times that I can count!!!
Best to you and all the blessings you have in your life. We're here if you need us and I'm glad I've found a place where nobody judges anyone, everyone is supportive, and nobody is annoyed with the question you asked ten thousand times in addition to all the hundreds before you.

TO THE MODS~~~!!!!

THANK YOU!!!!!

[familyof7]

Thank you city girl. Best wishes to you too. this is an awsome site.

[freshstart06]

Remember Pro se club, God has never let us down and he never will. I will have my meeting next week and I no longer fear. I feel especially close to FO7 even though I am 10 years older, we have gone through similar situations and face the same challenges (oh, FO7, I read one of your post and you said you have family in Puerto Rico, I am also Puerto Rican)

Not once has God let me down. I truly feel if I needed a Lawyer God would have made a way or presented that to me but when a lawyer told me that I don't need a lawyer that was my clue. As stated before, I refuse to put food on a Lawyers table when I can't even put food on my table, any money I can borrow will go to my family. I remember we were down to our last $250 dollars and we needed to file fast. We had to pay the paralegal $200, I prayed that night and I just told God, I don't know how you are going to do this but you always take care of me. The next day, I check my account to make sure nothing else came through to take the little money we had left and I had $1800 in my account. this was enough money for us to pay the paralegal and find another place to live. So yes, God answers prayers. For those of you that don't know my story please read my previous post.

Even though, I know things are going to work out for us but in an event it does not work out through BK that just means God has something better planned. By the way, I did bless my final paperwork before I mailed it out to the trustee.

[familyof7]

Yeah My husband is puerto rican. His last name is rivera his mothers name is cordero he is originally from NYC but his family in puerto rico is from salinas. I am native american Cherokee indian. You are so sweet freshstart06.

[CityGirl]

How did you get $1800 in your account?

[familyof7]

her landlord that kicked her out refunded the rent money they paid a few days before then told them to move

[JRScott]

Very good comments and good luck to you all.

To the OP you say most of that credit card debt is 5 years old. When was the last time you paid on it. You might want to check the SOL for the state it was incurred in (if different than the state you live in now). If its past that date then they really can't legally collect it.

Other than that the others gave great advice

[freshstart06]

FO7, my goodness, we have too much in common but it is reversed with us. My husband is part native american, his tribe is located in Yuma, AZ. We receive profit sharing from his tribe, that varies from year to year. Are you receiving your profit sharing from your tribe??? I heard the Cherokee tribe has the highest payout because they are the richest tribe. If you are not receiving it, look into it, I think you will get all your back pay as well all you have to do is register with the tribe.


CityGirl, yeah, my landlord freaked out when we told him we were filing chpt 7 and returned our rent then sent us a court notice to vacate. I am sure I had some kind of legal protection but it wasn't worth it. We found a beautiful home, 3400sq feet for only $1300 on a very huge lot. Park located in the back yard, school in neighborhood, My doctor's office is really close. everything is perfect. things happen for a reason. We were paying $2000 at the previous rental and it wasn't that big but it had a beautiful pool. It was a rent to own, for that reason the rent was high but we were always negative almost $500 a month, thank goodness for overdraft, now I look back I don't know how we made it paying that much.

[BKTango]

"Are you receiving your profit sharing from your tribe??? I heard the Cherokee tribe has the highest payout because they are the richest tribe. If you are not receiving it, look into it, I think you will get all your back pay as well all you have to do is register with the tribe."

Small hijack I apologize in advance to the OP.

...just to add some info incase F07 wants to look
into this.

In order to register with the Cherokee Nation you must have an person of ancestry listed on the Dawes Roll. Once you determine your geneolgy and it's listed through your ancestor on the Dawes Roll your have to be issued a Certificate of Degree of Indian Blood, by the bureau of indian affairs, to determine the amount of cherokee blood in you lol You have to provide numerous legal documents to prove your lineage. You can't register without the number from the Dawes Roll. If you don't have an ancestor listed on the Dawes Roll you don't have the number. Once you have all of that, then you are allowed to register and they can accept or deny you membership. Also if you are a decendant whose ancestor was listed on the Freedman's list and not the Dawes, you will not be allowed registration. They recently removed Freedman decendants from it's citizenry. It's a big complicated process. But F07 if you are interested, I suggest you look into it. I only know all of this because I am part Cherokee and my family is listed on the Dawes Roll, so we are just now going through the process of proving our lineage and applying for memberships.

Again apologies to the OP.

[familyof7]

Thankyou Bktango

[freshstart06]

BKtango, once you are a member, then you will be receiving the profit sharing as well correct??? My husband's process was much easier because his family was born on the reservation. Is it true the Cherokee Nation pay out is like every week or month??? Here in Arizona some indian reservation are really really nice with beautiful homes and others are pretty bad.