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Filing for bankruptcy is a hard decision, but once you have chosen to do so, your next difficult decision is to figure out who will be doing the legal filing. Filing bankruptcy is not something that someone off the street can do, it requires a lot of legal competence and knowledge of the bankruptcy law. Your options to apply for bankruptcy include doing it yourself, hire a petition preparer, or hire a bankruptcy attorney. By choosing either alternative, you should be aware of the pros and cons of each.
Apply bankruptcy by yourself
The only glaring benefit for filing bankruptcy on your own is that you are saving the money which you would have to pay either the petition preparer or the attorney. There are many downsides to filing bankruptcy on your own, mainly you need to know what forms to fill out, and what to fill out accurately. Since you have chosen to file bankruptcy on your own, you should be prepared that you might not be able to cover all the basis and therefore can lose more assets than you have to.
Use a petition preparer
Hiring a petition preparer is really not that much different than filing bankruptcy on your own. The petition preparer is basically just there to fill out the forms for you. The petition preparer cannot perform any of the following actions:
- Give you legal advice on any issues
- Represent you in the bankruptcy court/341 meeting
- Cannot interpret any law even if they truly know what it implies
- Cannot draft any legal documents for your bankruptcy case
Get a certified bankruptcy attorney
This is the only legitimate way if you are planning on filing for bankruptcy. Granted, it can cost the most, but it can only help you in the long run to retain more assets than you could with any of the previous alternatives. Another benefit of using a bankruptcy attorney is that the lawyer would know precisely what the entire process entails. If you have chosen to use a bankruptcy lawyer for filing your case, then he or she should be able to help you retain the assets through the usage of the bankruptcy exemptions. If you have hire a lawyer to apply the petition, you would not have to worry if the paperwork is filled out correctly or precisely. This is the ideal way you should be filing for bankruptcy. If you want to have a successful filing and subsequently a bankruptcy discharge issue to you, hire a bankruptcy to do the filing.
You might be counting every penny that you have left, hence you are seriously considering bankruptcy. But even if that is the case, you should still hire a bankruptcy attorney to help you with your case. Your bankruptcy lawyer will be able to steer you through the difficult waters of bankruptcy without much backlash. Since your bankruptcy lawyer has been lawfully trained to practice bankruptcy law, you should rest assured that your fear or concern about bankruptcy can be put to rest. You should only expect to file bankruptcy once in your lifetime, therefore you need to treat this event carefully by seeking the help of a professional.
About this Author
Steve Sanchez has recently overcome the economic depression of 2008-2009 by declaring bankruptcy. Even though bankruptcy has devastated Steve financially and emotionally, Steve has rebuilt his businesses in the last 6 months and he has not looked back since.
One of his project is to educate people on bankruptcy. Having gone through the ordeal himself, he has first hand knowledge of the pros and cons of filing for bankruptcy protection. Please visit his site http://ToFileBankruptcyorNot.com if you want additional information regarding bankruptcy.
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