Oh boy, I need help!

[MoneyHungry]

Thank goodness this forum is here, I'm so glad to know I'm not alone right now!

At the advice of legal aid, I'm starting the process of filing BK myself. I guess the term is pro se? There's things I forgot to ask her during my consultation tho and since there's people here who've gone through it, I think I'd rather ask you anyway.

What does filing pro se involve? I know it means I have to do the paperwork, but do I represent myself in court? How does that generally work out? What do I say? How long does the process take? Will doing this myself cause it to take longer? I don't even know what to file or what the differences are. 7, 11, 13, I've also heard the word "protection" included. I don't know what it means or which one to file. I'm clueless right now.

Also, I have a creditor that wants to take me to court very soon, and they're obviously being included in the paperwork- do I show up anyway? Can they take any legal action against me before the bk goes through?

I have no assets, no guaranteed income and what income I had is diminishing quickly- I'm on the verge of losing my car. I know I have to include that in the paperwork, so will the car company take the vehicle away from me and how can I get into a different vehicle while that's happening? I was told I can get a vehicle worth up to $12k?

The last thing is student loans/grants. I've applied for some to help support my monthly income while I'm going through school- I don't know how much I'm getting or if I'll get anything, but whatever I do get HAS to go toward school. Can any of my creditors take that money from me?

Sorry for the long first post. I had no idea what I'm doing and I obviously didn't make the best of my time with legal aid =X. Any help is greatly appreciated!!

[dingdong]

Filing Pro Se can be a bit nerve wracking.

I would suggest printing out all the forms that are required to be filed in your district and just read over them for a few days.


Then , get all of your information together, your paystubs, copies of your CR from all three bureaus, a list of your expenses, your utilty statements, household bills, tax returns, everything that you need to fill out the forms correctly.

Print a few copies of the petition and schedules and pencil in your numbers and make notes to yourself about what you don't understand.
Buy the NOLO book ( you can usually find a discount code and get it pretty cheap, I bought the E version for 7.99)

Then spend at least a week reading this forum. Read, read, and read some more until you start to understand things.

Be wary of charges you have made recently, especially in the 90 days prior to filing, especially if they were large or balance transfers and read about those issues.

Make a list of your assets ( real estate, anyting of value, cars, etc)


Keep reading. Know your state exemptions and the federal exemptions and see which set better suits the assets you need to protect or if you can even use state exemptions.


Take the means test at legalconsumer.com .

Then keep reading.

That is a good place to start. Also, you can usually get 3-4 BK consults with attorneys who may give you good advice on what you may qualify for and what assets you may need to protect.

Good place to start and don't be afraid to ask questions,

Good luck.

[MoneyHungry]

Excellent advice. I'm getting it already that there's going to be a ton of reading involved. So much for time off from studying, lol.

Thing is, I keep looking for the paperwork and it comes up page by page? I don't know what applies to me, so I'm downloading it all- I'm a bit irritated with it now. If I walk into the courthouse and just ask for a packet, will they charge me and how much does it usually go for?

As far as the NOLO book, can I get that at most bookstores or do I need a specialty store? Thankfully I have my statements and credit reports together, one thing down. I just need to figure out the legal stuff.

BTW, what is the means test? And, I read that I shouldn't take out any loans while I'm filing, but I was going to sell my car and try to buy a cheaper one- how is BK going to effect that process?

[dingdong]

If you go to the forms page on your district site, there should be a link that says "Chap 7 Petition Package". Scroll down a bit and you should find it. I don't know which district you are in, but in Ca, the entire package is available as a download, or you can choose to download page by page.


There may be extra forms required by your local court, so be sure to check that section as well.

The NOLO book may be available at your local library, they have them at Barnes and Noble usually or you can buy online as an "E" version for immediate download to your PC or have it shipped. Be sure to use the latest version/edition.


I found a coupon code that gave me 10.00 off and my "E" version was only 7.99. You can search for a coupon code from NOLO on Google.

The means test is a test to see if you qualify for CH 7 without a "presumption of abuse". A new requirement of BK when the laww changed in 2005.

You can take an online version at www.legalconsumer.com.

You will also have to include one with your petition, it is form 22A I believe.

[lrprn]

fHere's a link to the current Ch 7 B22A forms (I assume you are filing Ch 7 because filing Ch 13 pro se is definitely NOT a good idea) - http://www.uscourts.gov/bkforms/bankruptcy_forms.html

Scroll down until you see B22A, then click the Form link. You alsoneed to fill out the Schedules A through J - those links are towards the top of the webpage.

Print these out, but don't expect to understand much of them. Purchasing the Nolo book for Ch 7 will be incredibly helpful - here's that link - http://www.nolo.com/product.cfm/obje...D0792C01A/213/

Good luck to you!

[justbroke]

I assume you are filing Ch 7 because filing Ch 13 pro se is definitely NOT a good idea

Yeah, what lrprn said.