What does a BK usually cost?

[Lou]

My husband and I have an appointment to meet with an attorney on the 20th. A few years ago he had a very good paying job and expecting that his income wouldn't change we got into debt. At the time it wasn't a problem because we both had a decent income. A couple of years ago he lost that job and ended up taking a $27,000 cut in pay with his new job. We have struggled along but have gotten even deeper in debt. Our credit cards, I am ashamed to say are up to $48,000.00. We have lost our low interest rates with some of them going as high as 30 percent. I hate the thoughts of going through bankruptcy but don't know what else to do. What does it cost to go through Ch 7 and what if you don't have the cash to pay for it? Most people who have reached this desparate stage in life don't have an extra thousand to pay for an attorney. Some of our credit cards still have available credit on them. Will an attorney charge his fees to one of our cards or do we have to some how borrow the money for that also. I appreciate any advice any of you can give. I am scared to death of this whole process and just want it over.

[Minera]

Depends on how involved your assets are I would guess whether you want to attempt pro se or get a lawyer. If you have a home, stocks, etc.. get a lawyer. I did it myself but had a no asset case. Typically, if you do it yourself your just paying for the filing fees which are depending on the state roughly $209 for a Chapter 7 I know. If you pay a lawyer you need to shop around because they vary tremendously as others will tell you. Not sure about the whole credit card thing and charging the fees to one. Doesn't sound quite right to me. I know you can pay the filing fees in installments because I did in three installments and a lot of lawyers will take installments. Actually if you are really going to file, stop paying on your credit cards and use the monthly payments you would have paid to pay for a lawyer. Good luck and breath, its not as terrible as you think, you will get through it.

[TiVoMan]

My BK back in 1998 cost me $875 plus filing fees. The attorney normally charges $2,500, but I went through my union office for a referral.

[Pinktiger]

Mine is costing $1200. I think he is overcharging me, as I checked on Pacer and none of his other clients in the month I filed paid anywhere near that. The most was $1,000. The least was $600.
My case is not complicated.
I could have done it myself, had I known what I know now.
The lawyer did lower his fees, however; he was going to charge me $1,500, and I complained and told him what I knew and he lowered it.
The only thing he has done for me that was outside the norm is to negotiate a cure with my mortgage company; basically he filed an answer to their motion for relief, and took a check from us to pay them for the arrearage on our note so we can reaffirm.
That took at most 10 minutes of his time.
I'm not discounting the work he has done, but I feel he could have been more helpful.
I think he thought I was hiding assets. I look good; dress well, and have an education. I'm at least as smart as he is.
But I'm not smart enough to hide assets. If I were that smart I wouldn't be in the financial shape I'm in.
So, long answer, $1,200.
And I think I'm overcharged.
But I'm going to rectify that by having him take care of some more issues; a couple of my creditors have not acknowledged the bankruptcy to the credit reporting agencies. And one of them has been contacting me even though they are not supposed to. So I may put him to work on those.
My 341 is October 12, and I expect that I will be discharged without a problem. We will see.

[bezoar]

Depends upon where you live. Here in OK, I went mid-range @ $750 + filing fees. I've seen them locally anywhere from $500 all the way to $5,000 (for a case involving about $5 million in debt).

[Minnymouth]

If a no asset case, consider filing out your own petition papers, then pay a parlegal ($100.00) to look over them for correctness.... the file yourself.
REMEMBER - if you file yourself, run into a problem - then most lawyers will not come in and straighten it out - will really cost your then...........

Minny

[Becky C]

Ours cost $800 + $259 filing fee here in Missouri. You cannot use a credit card to pay for bankruptcy. They can actually reject your bankruptcy claim over purposely taking out more debt that you plan to declare. When you decide to declare, and stop making all the credit card payments, doesn't that free up enough money in the budget to pay the attorney's fees?

Becky C