Depending on where you live, attorney’s fees for a routine Chapter 7 (regular old) bankruptcy run anywhere from about $750 to over $3,000.
YIKES!!
“Geez, if I had THAT, I certainly wouldn’t be considering bankruptcy!”
“How can you expect me to pay THAT, I’m broke, dagnabit!”
Well, let’s assume you really, really do need to file. You have three choices: Hire an attorney, use a petition preparer, or prepare and file on your own.
File on your own: Yes, you probably can understand each and every one of the questions posed to you in the bankruptcy documents, and, yes, you can accurately provide true, accurate and complete answers. Your filing will be legally sufficient.
Use a petition preparer: Because they are absolutely prohibited from providing you with any legal advice whatsoever, this is a complete no-brainer: DON’T DO IT!! A petition preparer, by law, can only fill in the information you provide. Why not type it in yourself? Why indeed!
Hire an attorney: As stated above, yes, you can read and understand each and every question in the bankruptcy documents, and, yes, you can prepare and file true, accurate and complete documents. (There is at least one critical exception — the schedule of claimed exemptions — but we’ll ignore that for now.)
The real issue here, though, is: WHAT DO THOSE ANSWERS AND DATA MEAN??
Only an experienced bankruptcy attorney can look at the pile of facts that reflects your unique situation and make a professional evaluation of how they all relate to one another and what you should do (or not do), and when you should (or should not) do it.
There is so dang much that can go wrong without an experienced and competent attorney that you simply cannot afford NOT to hire one.
Yes, that’s arguably a biased opinion, but one based on 31+ years of experience and observation.
Thanks for your interest and time reading this!
Mark Emmett, Consumer Bankruptcy Lawyer
Member National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys
Mark R. Emmett, Esq.
mremmett @ gmail.com
716 East 4500 South N240
Murray, Utah 84107-3619
801-438-4050
