Under the means test income and filing Pro Se

[sofargone]

Is it any easier filing if you are under the means test income for your state?? I have already conacted a lawyer and paid him $100.00 but it wil take me 6 months probably to come up with the rest..
I am under the income, filing without husband, don't own anything, don't have any income.... I am thinkking it maybe an easier case and might be able to do it myself. Any thoughts?

[justbroke]

If you are married, you may have median income, spousal income, and other issues. Are you both under the median? Who owns the majority of the property (real and personal)? Who has all the credit cards?

[sofargone]

my husband has the only income, he owns our house and cars. My name isn't on any of it. All of the debt is in my name. We have three credit cards together all with 0 balance. We do have bank accounts in both our names. With very little balance, what goes in usually comes out right away for mtg & bills.

[Aledrell]

Go to your local library and get the Nolo CH7 book and do it yourself. No reason to pay 2-3k unless you have something worth protecting.

[Aledrell]

We have three credit cards together all with 0 balance.

Then why are contemplating BK?

[sofargone]

Together we have 3 cards with 0 balance. I have about 60,000 in my name only.

[justbroke]

You'll need to dig more into your situation. Are you in a community property State? Who pays all the bills? To what extent does your spouse's income count? Do you own joint property (home, cars, etc)? This will all matter.

[sofargone]

Thank you for all of the replies! I am not in a community property state. My husbands income pays all of the bills. I am a sahm. No income. Everything we own is in my spouses name, house & cars. I owe about $60,000. All in myname on credit cards. We do have a couple of cc together but they have 0 balance. We do have a bank account together and accounts in our childrens names with small balances.

[justbroke]

I would probably NOT recommend filing pro se (on your own). The income issues should be okay, but I wouldn't want to see "marital" property somehow getting into the equation. I'd start consultations with several attorneys.

[sofargone]

I have consulted an attorney but the cost is going to set me back quite a long time. I thought being under my states income would be pretty easy. I guess not. I will have to keep saving...

[Sideways]

Possible pro se too..

I have been researching and educating myself on Bk 7 for a few months now and have just started filling out the avalanche of forms. Therefore, I really cannot be of much help but can offer a few thoughts. I sent away for Nolo's 2009 Bk 7 book from Abe books for one dollar, read it, and am now penciling in their worksheets. I also came up with some sample petitions, trustee notes, and other odds and ends. If you have a no asset, unencumbered estate, below mean income, and a lot of patience, then I think it is possible to fill out all the forms and go pro se. However, with that said I think the difficulty (for which I am already having) is getting the wording or choice of words correct and in the right order. For instance, in the voluntary petition they will tell you how they want you to order your name: last, first, middle. Then on other sheets they will just tell you to enter your name and your wife's name or just debtors name. So, without seeing a sample form or something it is hard to tell just how they want everything done. Or, I have noticed that Nolo will tell you to use N/A a lot and our states instructions will tell you to just leave those spaces blank. Nevertheless, I am not letting the irregularities stymie me and am just plodding through it. I figure I will try to get it as accurate as I can and then at some point I can use a legal aid Bk attorney for $35 for 1/2 hour to look it over..or at least the areas I had difficulty with. As far as your home and vehicle in a community property state goes..and filing as an individual I believe you would only be able to to claim a single exemption on such items and not be allowed to double them up. That is, if your state allows you to double and you have any equity in them. But, I am getting way over my head here. Fortunately, I do not have to worry about our home because we are so far underwater that it would take a submarine to find it.
Hope that helped a little bit..

[Sideways]

Correction

Sorry, disregard the last part about exemptions because I guess it would not matter if the car and home is in your husbands name..

[empowered]

I've just filed a Chapter 7 as an under-the-median pro se filer and did do the paperwork myself. But it required not only the Nolo book, but the helpful guidance I received her in this forum. I had also had two telephonic consultations with attorneys on my relatively simple non-asset, consumer debt filing to settle a few questions on how to file.

So, yes, I did my Chapter 7 on my own in the end but had the guidance of numerous people in doing it. If I had to worry about joint assets or doing a Chapter 13, I would probably heed the warnings of people on this list who've talked about the majority of pro se Chapter 13 filings being dismissed and get a new attorney.

I was originally a Chapter 13 filer in another state, without assets, and did have attorneys for that. I didn't know much about the process at the time and hadn't considered whether I should try pro se filing.

Good luck either way.

[ccsjoe]

sofargone,

Just to avoid the concern of marital property getting in the way, and your name being on joint accounts, I think you should save up for counsel. Either that or seek two or three free initial consultations where you can address the issues with satisfactory answers.

Good luck.

[Sideways]

To be or not be a pro se filer?

I think perhaps one of the most important questions that has been bantered around on this site is whether to retain an attorney or file pro se. I am personally now filling out all the forms, using Nolo as a guide, and other internet samples. However, I had concerns about using Nolo as a template for the voluntary petition part, because our Bk 7 instructions are different than what they presented on their sample forms, here in Idaho. At least for the Chp. 7 2009 version. I voiced those concerns on another thread and nobody of has responded to that post, as of yet. Therefore, I contacted an attorney that was affiliated with our local court system and here is what she said. "Although Nolo and internet information can be used as a guide for a pro se filer one could be in for a rude awakening if one relied on them solely. This is primarily because they are sticklers here in Idaho when it comes to federal courts. However, if you have an attorney and anything is out of order the judge will put the onus on him to get things right and you can escape relatively unscathed.

Nevertheless, I feel that nothing is lost by being as informed as I can about bankruptcy and filling out the forms. Then if I decide to retain an attorney I will be in a lot better shape than just walking into an office cold turkey(maybe even save some money). Also, we have a very easy, uncomplicated, and unencumbered case. That being said the hard part is grinding through all the paperwork..