Questions for ones that files pro se

[mintz]

Just curious, where did you find the forms that you send creditors, court house etc...

The attorney I called wants $3500 to file a chapter 7 or 13. Is this something I CAN do myself? How do I know what to do step by step??

[JRScott]

Okay 3500 is way to much for a Chapter 7.

I'd call a few more lawyer offices.

The best place to get info on trying to file pro se is to start with the NOLO bankruptcy book.

[SevenFilerCA]

Here is a link to the federal forms.

http://www.uscourts.gov/bkforms/index.html

However, you should find the website of your state's bankruptcy court and find out if they have their own forms, and if there are any additional forms (there were additional forms for my state). I read on this forum about someone who used the federal forms instead of his state's and had his case dismissed!

I second the recommendation for the Nolo book. Even if you eventually hire a lawyer, it will help you be more prepared. I just filed pro se in Jan and had my (I think) successful 341 today. Many of the other cases who were present had lawyers and had mistakes in their paperwork which caused their 341 meetings to be continued another month. I think that is less likely to happen if you are very involved in the preparation of your paperwork.

[mintz]

Thanks sevenfiler.

[SevenFilerCA]

Just found this in another thread, but thought I'd repost it here. Here is a site that links to all the state bankruptcy courts' websites:

http://bkinformation.com/CourtWebs.cfm

[danaf]

Doing BK pro-se is not for the faint of heart. It takes time....time to try to understand as much of the law and process as possible to ensure a successful BK. But it can be done.

[SevenFilerCA]

Doing BK pro-se is not for the faint of heart. It takes time...

I'll second that. I understand I have a pretty straightforward case, and I worked 10-hour days for several weeks on the initial petition (almost a month, I think), and then several more 10- to 12-hour days on amendments. Every day I kept thinking I was getting close, only to realize how much more I had to go when I turned the page. One thing that kept me going was a remark in the first chapter of the Nolo:

"Many filers are shocked to see the long list of documents that might be required in a Chapter 7 case, particularly after Congress added even more paperwork requirements in the new bankfuptcy law. But don't be alarmed: many of these forms require very little time and effort to fill in, and most filers won't have to complete them all. Just take things one step at a time, following the detailed instructions in Ch. 6, and you'll do just fine."

Just trying to focus on the one step at a time/that I was on at that moment helped a lot.

[mintz]

It would be nice to have sort of punch list like "go to form xxxx and dill out lines xyz for this

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