Must ALL your paperwork be complete before filing

[ColoradoBell]

Someone who filed BK already, told me that you can file just the
first couple of forms to get your BK started....and THEN file the rest of the forms re income/expenses/property later.

Is this true? If so, how much time do you have to get the rest of your stuff in?

I have to time my filing, but I'm kinda getting squished between two issues. I also haven't hired an attorney...I want one, but I have to wait to get a check before I can do it.

I filed out forms up to the matrix and also took the required course.

[tigergem]

15 days.

And if you file "the first couple of forms" (which is an emergency petition) pro se, I think you might have a hard time getting an attorney to pick it up after that. If you know for sure which attorney you are going to retain, you should discuss that with your chosen attorney ahead of time. You surely can't expect to pay the retainer on day 13 or 14 after you have filed your petition and think he or she is going to have your schedules done in time for that deadline. Although they could be filed quickly and then amended, this is probably a bad idea.

[HHM]

Correct, you can file the Petition (first 2 pages), statement of social security number, All schedules for creditors (secured, priority, unsecured), mailing matrix, and the pre filing consumer credit counseling certificate.
See this post: http://askmethner.com/what-is-an-eme...ptcy-petition/

And then you have 15 days to complete the petition.

As tigergem points out, you will be very hard pressed to find an attorney who will jump into your case if you filed it Pro Se. Any attorney worth hiring either won't do it or charge double (with good reason, they are going to assume responsibility for your actions and have to do a rushed case), an attorney willing to take the case at a normal rate is probably not one you want anyway.

Tigergem has a good suggestion, find an attorney, get them retained, most firm's will accept a small retainer to be "hired" and just get the ball rolling.

[ColoradoBell]

Thanks....I am currently being crunched by a Receiver who has asked the court to force me to vacate my home...no, not because of any reasonable reason (except that he'll get more money if he has to 'manage' it once i'm gone) but because the Buyer (a not clean Buyer by any means who has a contingency contract to close in October MAYBE if his house sells) thinks that I m ight do something to damage 'his' property.Oh...the buyer says he'll pay utilitities HAHAHAHHAHA...not the $10,000 tax bill, nor the $2000 insurance, not my rent...but he'll pay utilities! This is so farfetched in the real world, but I have a crazy judge (divorce judge) who would be most happy to throw me out of the home I spent 5 years of my life building. Rather than deal with a hearing to force me out....I'd rather get my BK filed and let the trustee and US court handle it.

[MSbklawyer]

As tigergem points out, you will be very hard pressed to find an attorney who will jump into your case if you filed it Pro Se. Any attorney worth hiring either won't do it or charge double (with good reason, they are going to assume responsibility for your actions and have to do a rushed case), an attorney willing to take the case at a normal rate is probably not one you want anyway.

I had one call today. Her case is being dismissed and she's not sure why. Dismissal will be final before she can get to my office and let me look at her file. Somebody has told her the case can be reinstated even if dismissed.

Once she fronts the money to get her court file off PACER, I am going to look at it to see if reinstatement or start over from scratch will be her best option. I charge 150% of a normal bankruptcy fee to straighten out a botched pro se proceeding. I think we'll both be better served if we just let the pro se be dismissed and start anew. Anyone see any drawbacks to that approach?

[HHM]

I had one call today. Her case is being dismissed and she's not sure why. Dismissal will be final before she can get to my office and let me look at her file. Somebody has told her the case can be reinstated even if dismissed.

Once she fronts the money to get her court file off PACER, I am going to look at it to see if reinstatement or start over from scratch will be her best option. I charge 150% of a normal bankruptcy fee to straighten out a botched pro se proceeding. I think we'll both be better served if we just let the pro se be dismissed and start anew. Anyone see any drawbacks to that approach?

It always better to let it dismiss and start from scratch.

[tigergem]

I deal with people in matters that are not legal matters. If someone comes to me and needs their code or design fixed, or their file configuration, or something as simple as their resume, or their garden redesigned, or their closets organized....I don't want to mess around "fixing" somebody else's mess. I start from scratch. If I can't - for some reason - start from scratch, I won't touch it. Period. It takes longer to fix a mess than to create a new one. lol.