With Or Without An Attorney

[adamjlaw]

I am going to file chapter 7 and was wondering if I should file with or without an attorney. It is 1500 with an attorney or I could use a document service which is 700 and includes an attorney consultation and state filing fees, or I could do it alone. It is a straight bankruptcy and I am not reafirming any debt. We are giving up our house but keeping our cars, cars have no debt on them. Is it easy enough to go the cheapest option or do I need an attorney. By the way I am in California.

Thanks

[yoyoma51]

Welcome to the boards!

In most cases, I would recommend hiring an attorney. When most people consider how much debt they are going to wave goodbye, it is a small price to pay.

Also, why take a chance something is done incorrectly and that screws everything up?...Not worth it in my opinion. There are lots of good attorneys out there that know what they are doing. Hire one.

PLEASE NOTE: I am not a lawyer. Bankruptcy may or may not be a best scenario for you. It depends on your situation. You may assume my advice is totally useless. Talk to an experienced bankruptcy attorney (or three) in your jurisdiction for legal advice

[coma]

We filed old law, so there was no means test or anything like that, but we were pro se and got a motion to dismiss, as the trustee objected to some of our expenses. We didn't really do anything wrong, and I used figures that were acceptable for the area (BIG pacer bill ) I think we got singled out a bit because of the lack of counsel and it being so close to the change in the law.

We hired an attorney to help with the objection, but she wouldn't fight. She doctored up our sched. I and J to make the 300/month that the trustee wanted for a 13, and we converted. That hurts us. When we finally converted back this past October, at our 341 meeting, the trustee told us we got a raw deal, and that never should have happened to us.

What I am (clumsily) trying to say is, YMMV. You can do it on your own with A LOT of research and effort, or you can interview attorneys and pray you found the best one.

Whatever you decide, ultimately, you affirm what is in the paperwork and are responsible and only you will look out for your best interest. If you decided to go pro se, take some consults with lawyers anyway. They are usually free and can get you some answers that you may not find here, things specific to your district.

[BassBoy]

IMO, if you do not fully understand the BK Codes, laws and procedures, you should not attempt to go it alone. Yep, $1500 may seem like too much to pay an attorney, but as yoyma51 pointed out, it's a small price to pay....I'll add it's well worth it.

[coma]

IMO, if you do not fully understand the BK Codes, laws and procedures, you should not attempt to go it alone. Yep, $1500 may seem like too much to pay an attorney, but as yoyma51 pointed out, it's a small price to pay....I'll add it's well worth it.

I don't disagree with you BB. I just hesitate to think that the attorney is the solution. You have to be active in your filing, and not just sit back and let the attorney handle it. Ask questions, comb for mistakes, and don't feel bad about it.

[HHM]

I don't disagree with you BB. I just hesitate to think that the attorney is the solution. You have to be active in your filing, and not just sit back and let the attorney handle it. Ask questions, comb for mistakes, and don't feel bad about it.

It depends how complicated your case is...the only way to assess that fact is to consult with 3-4 attorney's to get an idea of how they few your case. If they see the facts you present them, and raise some issues, you may want to consider hiring one, but if they say your case is a simple, straight-foward chapter 7, you can probably figure it out for your self.

[ameliabedilia]

If you have the money I would hire an attorney. For us, we were truly no asset- My husbands car is worth $1800 and the other is a lease. We also do not own a home. This made it easier to file on our own. For us, it was going to take so long to save the money for an attorney that I would have rather done it myself then have so many late payments and collections on our credit report.

If you do file pro se, I would not recommend using a service, I have heard lots of bad things about them. The only thing I would do is buy some software. Mine was from 1clickbankruptcy and was $50. It makes your paperwork look just like a lawyers, and it helped do calculations. BUT, you really don't even need to do that, you can just fill the forms in by hand.

[JollyGG]

Honestly I looked over our forms carfully and it's not that much harder to fill out the means tests then it is to do your own taxes.

However, an attorney would know the ins and outs of your district, your trustee's and your area. Which in some case would involve a huge PACER bill on your part. Plus I'm sure there is a certain "good ol' boys" network that happens.Plus a lawyer is able to take the emotion out of things. It's not his money, his things, or his life. Sometimes it is best to have things handled by someone who is not quite as emotionally involved as you are.

However, if the money is not there and you truley have a stright forward case. As long as you take the time to learn about bankrutpcy you should be able to file yourself. And no one knows your situation as well as you do. Plus no one has more motivation to watch out for your best interests than you do.

Do your research, Go to a few free counsaltations (after all they are free), and then make your decision. Also perhaps give a call to the clearks of the bankrutcy court a call and ask a question or two to get a feel for how Pro-se frendly your court is. Some are really helpful and will answer questions (they can't give legal advice, but they can tell you if you have included all the neccesary forms for example) and direct you to the right resources. Others don't help at all and are uncooperative. If you have the later I would deffinately recomend a lawyer.

[ameliabedilia]

One more thing- check to see if your bk court has a help desk. This is different from legal aid. Our court has a real attorney that will see people every Friday or something. They will look over all your paperwork to let you know if there are any mistakes. They can't give real legal advice, but they certainly made me fell much better.