Would pro se really be that difficult?

[ecsclb1724]

I'm looking over the forms online and it really doesn't look THAT daunting.

I have a house worth slightly more than we owe and two early 90s cars with 200K miles that we will be covering with exemptions. We have some "secured" debt (i.e furniture from Ashley's about two years old now we'll cover it with exemptions at yard sale value)

We're under state median by like 15K (WA State).

Everything else is unsecured cc debt and medical bills approximately 25K all together.

The only thing that I foresee some difficulties with is that I had to take out a cash advance from my bank (US Bank) because my direct deposit wasn't switched in time and I already owed them money. The cash advance was only for $500 and was used for necessities but I don't have a problem reaffirming it if there is going to be issues.

So what do you think? I think I can do it but it seems most people really recommend against it.

[music12]

it sounds like you have done your homework, looking up exemptions and the means test etc. . so you could probably do it yourself. however, there is great value to having a good lawyer. much of it is that it reduces stress - if you trust your lawyer, then you can worry less about the bk and more about your life. however, if you can't afford a lawyer, it sounds like you can do it yourself.

if you think there may be a problem with your bank because of the $500, and if your bank will be listed as a creditor, i would suggest to take all your money out from that bank before filing (put it in any other bank as long as its not wells fargo...).

that said, a $500 cash advance is below the amount for presumption of abuse, so you probably won't have a problem with it.

[AshShep01]

I did pro se, I didn't find it hard at all, you just have to do your homework. My BK was a straight forward CH 7 no assets.



FILED 02-19-2009
341 MEETING 03-25-2009
RE-AFIRM HEARING 06-08-2009
DISCHARGED 06-16-2009

[bkmaggster]

I did pro se, I didn't find it hard at all, you just have to do your homework. My BK was a straight forward CH 7 no assets.

Ditto this.

I did find the process of actually doing the paperwork triggered some depression symptoms, but that's probably just a personal quirk. After reading some of the horror stories here I wouldn't have trusted the type of lawyer we would have been able to afford anyway.

[pdxgrrrl]

I think it depends on if you're the type of person who gets extremely stressed out over tiny details, to the point where it literally makes you sick. I'm definitely that kind of person (several doctors have diagnosed me with anxiety), so having a lawyer is EXTREMELY helpful for me. I educated myself pretty thoroughly on BK before I hired my lawyer and I probably could have done the paperwork myself, but having someone help me through this is invaluable.

[mmenz22779]

I too could have done it my self but wanted to get the assurance that i have a lawyer behind me. It was noth worth the 1200 I would have saved if I did not have him do it.

I figured heck i have not made a house payment for 4 months anyway, so that gave me the money to pay for it.

It all depends on you really. No one can tell you what to do. my case is also over 1.2 million dollars. So again i wanted to know that if anything sticky came up my butt was covered and that was more than worth the money i spent. I slept better for the next few months after that.

[marinah]

If you are good at filling out paperwork and following directions, you should be fine, especially if you are giving up everything so you really have nothing to lose!

We filed pro se because I am the paperwork queen (call me crazy, but I actually LIKE it), and found it to be a great experience, and actually kind of empowering. We were discharged last week, and it's just hitting me now that I did that myself -- got close to a half million dollars of debt discharged. It feels good.

So anyway, it's all about your comfort level. If paperwork and detail oriented stuff stresses you out, which would be understandable, a lawyer is well worth the peace of mind. But if you're a little bit of a control freak, like me, pro se might be a good option.

[debtmonster]

I'm contemplating a place like this to do my Ch. 7 if my local attorney doesn't tell me good things tomorrow:

http://www.bridgeportbankruptcy.com/bridgeport/index.asp

MUCH cheaper than an attorney and a lot less complicated than doing it all on your own. Supposedly you fill out some questionaires on their web site. They fill out all of the paperwork and then you download the PDF's. Print, sign, mail. You're done. Wait for 341's.

Anyone here use them?

[music12]

never used them, but they just don't sound reliable. they just fill out forms but they don't talk to you about any possible issues. it's also not clear whether you can modify the form after they filled it out.

[KKAB]

We filed pro se it wasn't bad at all (thanks to this forum, I'll add). We also had a cash advance from US Bank; it took a few phone calls, but we worked through it with no trouble. Filing pro se saved us about $1500 and I actually thought it was an interesting process.

[debtmonster]

I'm going to go with the local attorney. This guy seemed way cooler than the lady I hired up north. It will just suck losing 1/2 my money on this b-itch.