My sister wants to file Pro SE

[DYLAN150]

I have a relative who is a pretty intelligent person. She wants to file for bankruptcy (ch 7) and do the paperwork herself. She only has five credit cards (30K) and one car to file bankruptcy on and no assets. Has not charged anything on the cards in over a year and is current on everything at this minute but that's soon to change. She has no property, house, 401k, nothing. She has been in one of those debt programs making just one payment, but she is going underwater soon. I know she must complete a counseling class and then I noticed that all the forms are on line here and a person can fill them out and it will print them free, what do you think? I also think she should first talk with an attorney and go from there.

[sscott4775]

My advice would be to take advantage of free consultations with BK attorneys in her area to receive supplemental advise about the process or clarification if she has any unique issue that needs addressing, plus grabbing an updated copy of NOLO Chapter 7 book as soon as possible. And of course come on this forum for help as well.
I guess in the end it's all about making sure one fully understands what's involved in filing pro se, the workload involved, and understand BK exemptions and if one still feels they can handle it, then it's certainly doable.
Best of luck!!

[free2breathe]

She can get a copy of the Nolo book online. If she does a search for Nolo coupons, she may even save herself $10 on it. I agree with sscott, having a couple free consultations with attorneys will help her better decide if pro se is for her.

The forms are all available online at the debtor's state of residence bankruptcy court site. It's a good idea to check out that website. Tell her to click on the link for "filing without an attorney", local rules, etc. just to familiarize herself with the process.

Filing pro se certainly can be done successfully, as many of us on this forum can attest to. However, it's not for everyone.

[justbroke]

My advice would be for her to get online, join BKForum, and ask questions herself.

I mean this in the nicest way possible. Third and fourth party information is not a good thing if you are pro se or considering filing pro se. A pro se debtor needs to do a lot of research, on their own, and understand that research as if they were studying to pass a bar or medical exam.

[sscott4775]

understand that research as if they were studying to pass a bar or medical exam.

Now that is exactly the caliber of maturity one needs to keep in mind when they're doing pro se. I don't know the intimate details of everyone's case here on BK forum, but I would bet that I have one of the simplest cases for a Chapt. 7 and I still felt like all the information and studying was as justbroke said, like a medical or bar examination.

[TML16]

I'm brand new here myself and I'd say get the NOLO book. I used the sample chapters in Google to help guide me with filling out paperwork and I bought the eBook version directly from them so I can read the rest of it. For $25 (or less if there's discounts available) it's worth it.

[justbroke]

Do you know how many pro se cases, let alone attorney-led cases, where they cite a specific case, and the Judge uses it against them! I see it so many times. This is why I'm highly cautious when debtors start asking about tax dischargeaility, exemptions schemes, asset protection and other deep questions of law for their District.

It's an art form. There's no science here!

[DYLAN150]

Since she only has about 6 total creditors or so, she found an attorney who would discount his fee and is going with him. I think she told me the total to include the filing fee is about 1200 bucks. She lives in a big city so that isn't to bad.

[justbroke]

I'm very happy to read this news. Here's to a successful discharge!

[Craig316]

An attorney will scare her into using him/her. I found the process to be a bit time consuming, but relatively easy for someone with average intelligence.