Can an attorney increase the fee for filing bankruptcy? 22 Answers as of November 21, 2011

You and your attorney should have a written fee agreement. You have to look at the terms of the agreement to know what the fees are and if there are provisions for change. The court fee for filing bankruptcy did go up by $7 as of November 1, 2011. Attorneys were not given advance notice and many of us are getting $7 less for our fees than we had contracted for.

You are responsible for fees pursuant to your written contract with your lawyer - read it to see exactly what fees can increase. Remember, too, that the court's filing fee has nothing to do with your attorney fees. The bankruptcy court charges $306 just to file a Voluntary Petition for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy.

You are experiencing bait and switch. That means advertising an unrealistically low fee and then charging you extra every step of the way. You should expect to pay a reasonable fee for a BK. In Colorado a fair fee for a Ch 7 is around $1500, more if there are difficult issues such as a small business, lien strips, garnishment, lots of creditors. You should have a contract with your present attorney. If you do, read it carefully. If you don't have a contract, demand one immediately.

There is a filing fee associated with bankruptcy that goes directly to the court. The filing fee's just increased on 11/1/11 from $299.00 to $306.00 for a chapter 7 and from $274.00 to $281.00 for a chapter 13. The attorney fees can vary and are specific to the attorney who is helping you. I hope you found this answer useful.

The court clerks fees for filing bankruptcy increased nationally on November 1, 2011. The new fee schedules are posted on the bankruptcy court websites.

It depends upon what your retainer letter says. You should discuss this with your lawyer.

Whatever you contracted for is what you should be charged.

Not clear what you are saying or why you would be dealing with the clerk or even what kind clerk you are talking about but a contract or retainer agreement is required by law when you pay an attorney to handle your bankruptcy case and that agreement must state the amount to be charged for legal services. There was an increase recently in the court filing fee of $7 recently but not clear if that is what you are talking about. If you have an attorney you should not be dealing with the clerk of the court at all so that doesn't sound right either. Make sure you are dealing with an attorney and you can go to the website of the California Bar and verify that the person is licensed as an attorney and in good standing.

By clerk, do you mean you took the filing fee in to the bankruptcy court clerk? If so, it has gone up, most bankruptcy court fees went up November 1st. So there would be nothing wrong with them charging you the higher new fee.

Well a deal is a deal. I don't know if there was a written retainer or not. One is required. If you don't have one complaint to your local United States Trustee.