Filing a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Without an Attorney

              As a bankruptcy attorney in Indiana, I will start by saying it would be impossible for me to write this blog without being just a little bit biased.  However, I will do my best to lay out both the pros and the cons of filing a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy without an attorney.  I also want to point out that it is completely allowable for an individual to file his or her own bankruptcy in the Southern District Bankruptcy Court in Indianapolis.

             Let me start out with the obvious pro.  It's free, with the exception of the $306.00 filing fee.  Attorney fees for a Chapter 7 vary in the Indianapolis area, but it will easily cost $1,300.00 to $2,000.00 (including the filing fee) to have an attorney represent you in your Chapter 7 bankruptcy.  And, after much thought and consideration.....that is the only pro I can think of for filing a Chapter 7 bankruptcy without an attorney.  And if you have absolutely no income and no assets it might make paying a bankruptcy attorney impossible.  But come to think of it if yo have no income and little assets why do you need to file bankruptcy in the first place when you have nothing to protect?

            As far as the cons of filing a bankruptcy without an attorney in the Southern District Bankruptcy Court in Indianapolis, I'm going to have to make a list:

1.  You have to complete the bankruptcy schedules on your own.  At first glimpse, this may seem easy....it is just filling out some forms and, with the help of instructional websites on the internet it can't be that hard, right?  If filing a Chapter 7 bankruptcy were just about filling out a few forms then no one would use an attorney.  An attorney isn't just filling out forms.  The attorney understands what the form means, the purpose behind it and what the trustee wants or needs to know from the forms.

2.  You have to attend the 341 meeting of creditors alone.  Every time I am in Indianapolis for a bankruptcy hearing I explain to a client exactly what to expect from the hearing.  This includes what questions a trustee is likely to ask as well as how to answer each question.  And I have yet to see any attorney in Indianapolis who does not do the same thing for their client.

3.  You are expected to know the bankruptcy rules/procedures, even if you don't have a bankruptcy attorney.  I have watched a few bankruptcy debtors at 341 hearings profess over and over that they just didn't know that they were only allowed a limited amount of money on the date of filing, that they had to list all of their debts, that they had to list their car as property even though they don't own it outright, and on and on.  The bottom line is that the trustees really don't care what you thought or what you do or do not know.  The trustees are not permitted to give out legal advice and cannot tell you how to fix whatever mistakes you may have made on your petition when you show up for the 341 hearing.

4.  You may not even qualify for a Chapter 7 bankruptcy.  Do you really know when you are filing your own Chapter 7 bankruptcy that you actually qualify for Chapter 7 bankruptcy?  Are you sure that your expenses on schedule J are reasonable?  Just because you pay for something, such as a child's gymnastics lessons, horseback riding lessons, etc., does not mean that the bankruptcy trustee will find that expense to be reasonable.  Do you know how to properly fill out the means test and are you taking all of the deductions that you could properly take?

5.  You sign bankruptcy documents under penalty of perjury.  This means that if you withhold information or fill out the bankruptcy form incompletely you could be prosecuted for federal perjury.  This sounds like no fun to me.  How do you know that your schedules are accurate and complete if you are not really sure what each and every schedule means?

6.  The trustee can take your stuff.  I watched a pro se debtor yesterday in Indianapolis who had not claimed any exemptions of his clothing, furniture and other personal property.  He kept telling the trustee that he did not own anything.  Finally, the trustee pointed out to him that he owns clothing, furnishings, and a car.  The pro se debtor stated he believed that the trustee would not be interested in taking his clothing or furnishings because they are not worth anything.  The pro se debtor didn't seem to understand what the trustee meant when she said he did not assert any exemptions and told the trustee he was not asserting any exemptions in his personal property.  As a result of this pro se debtor not understanding what exemptions are, he could very well see the trustee take his stuff.

7.  Not everything on the internet is accurate.  Prior to writing this blog I spent about 15 minutes searching the internet for an article about how to file bankruptcy without an attorney.  Surprisingly, I didn't find anything that was even close to being helpful.  The bottom line is that no one can teach you how to file a bankruptcy including strategy of when to file as well as what might be a problem with your filing in an article.  Bankruptcy attorneys went to college for 4 years, law school for 3 years and most have lost count of the number of bankruptcy petitions they have filed for debtors over the course of their career.  The bottom line is that you can't learn everything on the internet.

           The bottom line is that there are people out there who have filed their own Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition successfully.  However, my guess is that there are more people out there who have filed their own Chapter 7 bankruptcy unsuccessfully; meaning they lost enough money or property in the process that it would have been cheaper to pay a bankruptcy attorney or meaning that their case was dismissed and they still owe all of the debts originally owed.  At Halcomb Singler, along with many other law firms, the initial consultation regarding bankruptcy is free of charge.  So, if you live in the Indianapolis, Kokomo, Zionsville, Fishers, Carmel or Noblesville areas and would like to meet with me regarding bankruptcy at the Carmel office of Halcomb Singler, call us at (317) 575-8222 or click here and give us your information and we will contact you for an appointment time that works with your schedule.  I think you will be happy you took the first step to understanding whether or not bankruptcy would be beneficial for you.

Halcomb Singler, LLP, is a debt relief agency.  It helps people file for bankruptcy under the bankruptcy code.  No attorney-client relationship with the firm of Halcomb Singler, LLP, is created through this blog. Also, please note that Erika Singler is an attorney licensed in Indiana and does not seek to practice law in any jurisdiction in which they are not properly authorized to do so.  The information contained in this blog is general in nature and should not be relied upon for the circumstances of any individual(s) or businesses.