Is there a cheap way to file for bankruptcy?
My mother is in a bit of a financial pickle. She has credit card debts, I’m not sure of the exact amount, but over ,000, at least, most of it from a failed person business. She feels that the best option right now is to file for bankruptcy. However, she cannot even afford to do that! It costs somewhere near ,600 for the various court and lawyer fees. She cannot save up because we’re already living paycheck to paycheck. I’m only sixteen, so any job I manage to get won’t do much good. None of our relatives are capable of lending her the money. I don’t think self-filing is a possibility. The whole situation seems kind of hopeless. Any ideas?
Posted April 17th, 2010 in Bankruptcy Q And A. Tagged: bankruptcy, credit card debts, job, lawyer fees, living paycheck to paycheck, money, paycheck to paycheck, person business, pickle, relatives.
Most bankruptcy attorneys will let her pay the fee in installments, with the final payment due before the bankruptcy court date. I declared personal bankruptcy about 15 years ago and I couldn’t have done it any other way.
She should try credit counseling first. It’s generally free and they work with the credit card companies to help consolidate all the payments into one.
April 17th, 2010 at 5:08 amLook in the phone book for para-legals that do
bankruptcy, you can do it yourself but I strongly
advise against that because on little mess up in
paperwork can have your case thrown out and
prevent you from filing again for 7 years.
Para-legals charge a lot less than an attorney
last time I looked it was about $300.
Hope things get better for her (and you family)
April 17th, 2010 at 5:08 amYou can actually pay just the court fees, which are minimal. It’s the lawyer fees that cost a lot. She can file everything by herself, she does not have to have a lawyer to do it. She will just have to be very detailed oriented in filing the paperwork, which is what the lawyer does. It may be more time consuming, but it does save money.
April 17th, 2010 at 5:08 am