How hard is filing bankruptcy on your own?

[Flamingo]

I am married but will be filing alone for chapter 7. I make about 28,000 a year and have 1 child. I rent an apartment and have no valuable assetts other than furniture and basic household goods. I have a vehicle that I am current on and want to keep it through reaffirmation. My debts are all unsecured except the vehicle, credit cards, few medical bills. An attorney near me said he would do it for 1,000 including court costs.

I checked out some online preparers and they looked good for cheap but I have read a lot of bad reviews. I saw 1clickbankruptcy.com and it doesnt do the work but says it guides you.

Also if I do do this on my own when I list the creditors what if I dont know who is handling the collections as my accounts have been passed around so much. I have some letters but the accounts are no longer with these places?

There are some amazing folks on here that can help you out. Note that if all appears overwhelming, what many suggest is to stop paying on your credit cards a few months before filing and using that money to pay for an attorney. To avoid confusion and what can be a myriad of questions to which you may not get the correct answer all the time, that might be a wise move for you. Have you spoken yet with an attorney? Most give free consultations and you can always go for more than one and check out a few attorneys; if you are in doubt about who to call, look in your phone book under the State section and call the State Bar Association for some attorneys who handle BK in your area - take with you a complete listing of all your bills, monthly payments, sources of income, paystubs, most recent tax return and a listing of your assets. Best of luck to you!

[Phillymanhere]

You know: when I first started to think seriously about bankruptcy, I thought I'd do the work myself.
I noticed, however, that I had tremendous fear and anxiety coming up.
It took me a few days to realize the anxiety was NOT from the idea of filing; the anxiety was from the idea of ME filing, working pretty much alone.

I decided that for peace of mind, I'd hire an attorney. I love research, but I'm not a person who is good with tedious work and detail. Once I started to meet with attorneys (and settled on one), my anxiety pretty much vanished .....

But if you're going to go it alone, this is definitely the place to hang out and where to ask all your questions.
Good luck.