Should I hire an Attorney or File myself (Pro Se)?

[Minnymouth]

$2,000 may seem like a LOT, BUT if you have assets to protect (property, home, auto, 401K, etc) you best use a lawyer......

$2,000 to wipe out $50-100,000 worth of debt safely, with few problems - IS WELL WORTH IT..............

Do yourself a favor - start saving or discuss a payment plan with an attorney....

[aa06a47]

My Chapter 13 was 2000. 1000 up front, the other 1k in the plan.

[FilingOnMyOwn]

It cost me $250 to file chap 7 pro se. With no assets, 40k in debt was successfully discharged. Your scenario is, if you have anything above and over exemptions to lose, beyond the cost of hiring an attorney, than hire one. If you have less to lose than the cost of hiring an attorney, than go pro se.

[annikasaunt]

Mine was $1000 even for a 7. Not done yet, but don't anticipate any add'l charges. Pretty fair.

[iupui1299]

Under the payment plan....did it all have to be paid before you could file?

[mystiquemia]

My Chapter 7 was total....1120.00

Attorney Fees:726.00
Filing Fees: 299.00
Credit Councel/debt education fees 95.00

I was able to do a paymeny plan.

[iupui1299]

So is it 1300 just to file a chapter 7? Or is that total cost? It seems to me like I am reading that it is 1300 plus 2000ish for the attorney? If that's true ...holy crap!!

[robivi3]

2003, Chapter 7, 2000.00 which included letters and several hearings and a deposition (2 hours), original cost was 1100.00. (225.00 per hour is normal in Broward). In my case the Judge would have tossed me without an Attorney, Judges get ticked if you come in front of them without a rep. If you are no asset you can do it yourself, assets, best use a lawyer.

[SinkingFast]

Where we are, attnys charge $700 to $1000 for Ch 7. The fee for Ch 13 is $2500 to $2800.

We are hoping, and so is the attny, that we'll file Ch 7. He charged us a Ch 7 filing fee. But our attny charges more for his services as well. The fee was $2000 to hire him.

With BK, cheaper may not always be better.

We have to use Old State's exemptions, so our attny is gonna Consult with an attny in the Old State for clarification of the statutes before we file and go to Court.

Most of the attnys had a "Contract" of what services their fees paid for. If you encounted Adversarials or something else came up, they quoted their billable hourly rate to represent you as their client for those things.

[Annika]

Ours was $1,200 in December 2004 (Chapter 7). It was worth it, IMO, because I personally wouldn't have had a clue what I was doing. We were self-employed at the time, too, which complicated things even further.

[Peevee]

Mine was $1500 for a chapter13 in Dec 2004 nothing upfront, it's just figured in with the rest

[debtisbad]

Mine was 1,300.00 for chapter 7. But he said he did not raise prices after the new law took effect. He told me most doubled their prices due to all the new paperwork.

[mystiquemia]

Chpater 13 is 2200 and Chapter 7 is 1120, Im able to file 7.

[13inOR]

Oaklag, that sounds about right on the 13. (I dont know what chapter 7 usually runs, never looked into them). Our ch 13 was actually about $3500
and it was worth EVERY RED CENT!!!!!!

[philnk]

do it yourself

I'm prepared to do it myself but I'm also ready to just let it ride for years and years. I'm pretty bullet proof because I can live on very little.

Just get all the necessary forms and books from the library. Fill in all the blanks and become sure of what each item means and that you are accurate. Then you have confidence going into it. Don't file for bankruptcy if you have tax skeletons in your closet, or any other illegal doings in the past, or property you want to keep that exemptions won't cover.