urgent questions-pro se in pa

[angelmomsheila]

forgot to add

I bought my computer 5 years ago for my daughter because she had just started college (and is no longer with me) and obviously had a much better job at the time!!!

[B12]

Do you live by yourself angel? Any family you can talk to while going through this? You have lived through the worst that any parent can handle. So, keep taking those baby steps.

You say you are going to be in a better place soon. Can you tell us what you are planning to do so we can help you through the process?

Please keep in touch here every day you can and discuss anything you want to. So many nice people here will listen, no matter what the topic. It does not have to be bankruptcy related.

[jennyn]

did you ever get an answer to your original question? Are you under the 150% of the poverty level? and Did you submit the 5 pg application with your request to waive the fee?

[angelmomsheila]

Thanks B12, my 18 yr. old daughter was killed in a car accident in 10-9-01 by wreckless driver who was in such a hurry he tried to beat her through an intersection and drove straight into her. Her accident happened 5 hours after my mom's funeral. I know it's hard to believe--sometimes I still can't believe it. I have a step father that I haven't talked to in over 15 yrs. and the only other person I was close to was my grandmother who passed away in July 2005. However, since all this happened I have been keeping in touch with my aunt (my mom's sister) in Florida. We weren't close before but are quite close now, but she lives so far away and has been battling cancer now for the last 5-6 yrs. Although, it has helped immensely talking to her, she doesn't know anything about bk and is in bad shape financially herself.

My plan is to try and get through this bk with what I have left of my sanity. I filed my papers 9-6-07. My 341 meeting is 10-10-07(the day after the anniversary of my daughter's death). God knowa if I could afford an attorney I'd have one!!! My hearing for getting the fee waived is on 10-4-07. I'm scared to death to go before the judge--it's literally making me sick. I don't handle stress as well as I used to. I'm just trying to take one day at a time--one minute at a time. Really hoping my trustee is nice.

I guess I should point out (not to you-B12) that I erroneously said I bought my computer 5 yrs ago-it obviously was 6 yrs. ago. My daughter had just started college when the accident happened.

[familyof7]

I have lost a child also he was a twin to my youngest child who is 23 months old now He passed 10/01/2005 . I have 5 living children and 2 of them are disabed and I myself have lupus and have suffered kidney failure I have no insurance and my husband is self employed so he can be there for me and the kids when we are sick and so on but that means less money. We make 15,000 per year and trust me I know what it means to be broke.We had a house fire in june to make our life more interesting and we had no family or friend help. I am 23 years old had my first child at 14 I will be married 10 years on 10/23/2007 I want to just throw my hands up and quit on a daily basis but have not quite figured out how. We filed pro se we had the filing fee waived. So I can totally relate. Please dont feel alone as hard as life get it gets that much better before the next challenge. God always rovides sometimes just enough and at the last second but he does come through.

[angelmomsheila]

Yes, I'm under the 150% and filed the application the same day I filed my papers. Then they sent me a notice of the hearing to waive the fee, which said I had to file a motion, certificate of service, and a response. I figured out the motion(I think) and the certificate of service, although I don't know who these are to go to besides the court, so I'm just mailing them to everyone (meaning the creditors and trustee) I know the will see them on pacer, but in my district they require other forms that are on pacer to also be mailed out-so I mailed these as well. I can't find a form to make a response, so I decided I may just have to skip that if I don't find out what it is and hope It will all work out in the end. I called the clerk's office and they won't tell me anything. I may try calling some attorney's but since I already filed pro se, I don't think they'll answer any questions. It doesn't hurt to try though!

[familyof7]

Yes, I'm under the 150% and filed the application the same day I filed my papers. Then they sent me a notice of the hearing to waive the fee, which said I had to file a motion, certificate of service, and a response. I figured out the motion(I think) and the certificate of service, although I don't know who these are to go to besides the court, so I'm just mailing them to everyone (meaning the creditors and trustee) I know the will see them on pacer, but in my district they require other forms that are on pacer to also be mailed out-so I mailed these as well. I can't find a form to make a response, so I decided I may just have to skip that if I don't find out what it is and hope It will all work out in the end. I called the clerk's office and they won't tell me anything. I may try calling some attorney's but since I already filed pro se, I don't think they'll answer any questions. It doesn't hurt to try though!

I called 30 attorneys when I needed help after filing pro se only two were willing to help but I got what I nedded from the two,.

[B12]

Stay with us angel, and keep talking to us. There is a thread here that is "non BK related." Post whenever you feel the need.

As for your BK, most are more well versed than I on the process, so keep asking questions and they will respond.

[angelmomsheila]

Thank you B12, I will keep posting, and familyof7, if you want to talk more about your angel, you can send me a private message anytime and I'll listen and try to help if I can.

[cathywhite4495]

Angel,
Welcome! Filing is definitely stressful, especially when you are filing pro se and everything is on your shoulders.
I looked up fee waivers in my Nolo book. There isn't anything in there that specifically talks about a response but on the bottom of the generic waiver request form they have is something about consenting to having the fee waived. Your first post mentioned a response as being a consent to the motion. Again, this is a guess but I wonder if they're just looking for a statement from you that you are consenting to the motion for a fee waiver?
Is it possible to search pacer for fee waiver cases? That might give you an example of what they're talking about. Too bad the court ladies aren't being more helpful! It seems like they could at least tell you what form you need!

[lrprn]

AMS, you do NOT have to justify anything to MajorMike or anyone else here. Frankly the post he/she made criticizing you for having internet was rude and inconsiderate. 99.9% of our members will never judge you because we've been there ourselves.

Bankruptcy is hard enough without having to listen to the "I never made a mistake, why did you?" type, This forum also has little tolerance for the condescending critic either (are you listening, MajorMike....or whatever you're calling yourself now. You're skating on thin, thin ice.)

[6ftladycop]

I don't even have $29 and the legal aid in my county, even if they handle bk, takes months to get someone approved! Thank you for the addvice though. Hopefully I'll figure it out b4 the deadline.

I am a pro-se filer in Illinois. I was in the same boat you were in and it seemed that nobody would answer any questions I had. I finally had someone drive me down there and I went into the clerks office with my paperwork and asked them if the paperwork I was turning in was complete? Each time I did this..the person sitting at the front desk would look over what I had and they would tell me what was missing and immediately I would go and find whatever it was and bring it right back to them. Now for a person who does not visit court houses often, I was a little overwhelmed at first, but once I made up my mind about getting this over with and making sure that as a pro se filer I did not miss any paperwork that was supposed to be turned in, I was good to go. The one thing that I kept hearing when I decided to file pro se was that we pro se filers tend to overlook important documents and paperwork that should be filed on a certain day and this is how our case gets tossed out or closed without a discharge. Once I heard this over and over from various people, you can best believe that I did not miss a beat. I looked on Pacer at my case and I must say myself with the help of all these good folks here on this site, my book Bankruptcy for Dummies and a few friends who worked at Legal Aid and Legal Assistance, I did a pretty good job as a pro se filer if I might say so myself. It was scary and hard, but it was worth it. I am now in the 60 day club for the last 20 days and the anxiety is gone.

[CindyLou]

Angelmomsheila,
You are so welcome, I am sorry my advice didn't go anywhere. You really seem to have everything on the ball with your BK! I was going to suggest was ladycop did and maybe go up to the court house. Sometimes being in person helps. I don't know how far away you are. I know sometimes courthouses are in the most inconvienent and hard to get places.

On a different note. I am so sorry for the loss of your daughter and also the other hardships you have had to endure. I appreciate the fact that you have share that with us and I sincerely hope that we are able to offer you some support. Feel free to post about anything!

[angelmomsheila]

More questions

First, I want to thank everyone again!

Also I drove 2 1/2 hrs. to downtown pittsburgh (which is a nightmare) to file my papers in person jusT so I could ask them the questions and they absolutely refused to give me a straight answer about anything!!! It was a sunny day, and if I would have asked them if it was sunny they would probably have looked outside and said "well...it could be or seems to be"!!!

This question is for cathywhite--I also have the Nolo book (which has been extremely helpful) but I can't find the form your talking about (the consent to...). Do you remember where you saw it or the page#?


This question is for everyone--I have student loans and don't want to try to discharge them. I reported them where I was supposed to (I think) but it just occurred to me that maybe I had to or will have to reaffirm them. Do I really need to do this since they are not automatically discharged?

[Lindsay]

An internet connection can be really cheap and even an old beater computer can get you online. I don't understand how that compares with filing fees and lawyer costs. That post by MajorMike sounds kind of mean-spirited.

I am a full time adult college student with three teenagers. Internet/computer is a necessity for us with research for school, ect. Plus I have access to listing my books on Amazon and eBay to help save for a lawyer.

Angelmom, good luck to you; I hope you get those filing fees waived so you can file soon. There are alot of people on the board who filed pro se so I'm sure you'll receive alot of help.