Can I file bankruptcy without an attorney? 42 Answers as of March 29, 2012

Yes, an attorney is not required but recommended.

Yes, you can, but good luck. Remember, bankruptcy is federal law governed by legal rules and procedures. You'll find using an attorney will get you a better result.

Yes, you can file bankruptcy without an Attorney. See the Bankruptcy Court's website for more information on filing pro se.

It is not advisable to try to file bankruptcy without a lawyer. It is very technical and easy to lose money and property if you don't know what you are doing. Generally, most people can afford a lawyer with cutting back on spending and saving money over time.

Recognize the answerer's bias, yet the most seasoned auto-didact may steer off a cliff with resulting irreversible injury (not the reversible Wile E. Coyote-type, alas). Bankruptcy is a highly specialized field that shouldn't be tackled by pro pers or non-bankruptcy attorneys. Even attorneys fallen on hard times wouldn't reasonably file on their own behalves and go at it alone, no more than a person (save Rambo, perhaps) would cut his own skin to extract a bullet. This answer (as well as our Web site) doesn't address all facts & implications of the question; it's general info, not legal advice to be relied upon; it creates no attorney-client relationship; it may be pertinent to CA only; it's independent of other answers.

Yes, but it is ill advised. Most attys will give you some time to pay before filing or you could file a Chapter 13 and pay the bulk of the fees through the plan.

You are eligible to file bankruptcy without an attorney. However, it is wise to consult an attorney as to whether your paperwork is in order prior to filing the case.

About 9% of all bankruptcy filings are without attorneys. About 100% of those people are miserable, frustrated and filled with anger at a court system that would really like to help them, but simply can't. It is your right as a citizen to use our court system. It is just a really bad idea to do that without an attorney. A Court that judges your case can not also act as your lawyer. That's just common sense. Most pro se petitioners are simply dismissed without getting any relief. They do not get their $306.00 filing fee back. If you truly have no assets, then you do not need a bankruptcy. You have nothing to lose. If you do have assets, you must protect them wisely from your creditors, who cheerfully would strip you naked and leave your family with nothing to eat and no place to live. Sell something, borrow, do what you have to do. Attorneys are worth their hire. That is why we exist. We save assets and help make your life better. And yes, we do it for the money. I have seen the line of pro se (without attorney) bankruptcy petitioners lining up for help at the clerk's window in Cleveland, OH. Their stories are all pitiful. The clerk tries hard to help each person, but she is not allowed to practice law. She can only hand out forms and tell people what the fees are. And she hardly knows where to start when a person asks, "How do I file a bankruptcy?" The clerk is very patient, but not one single person is in that long line had the faintest idea what she was talking about. If someone put a gun to my head and and forced me to file a bankruptcy without an attorney, I would buy this book, The Attorney's Handbook on Consumer Bankruptcy and Chapter 13 by Harvey J. Williamson, 35th Edition. Do not buy an old edition. Used Is OK. It's on Amazon. This is a cheap book but excellent. It has samples of filled out forms. It costs less than $40.00. If you are too broke to buy this book, you are too broke for bankruptcy. Don't leave home without it. No, I don't work for them. But I buy this book religiously every year. It is dirt simple or as simple as bankruptcy ever gets anyway. After you read it, you will probably decide that you were crazy to think you could ever file without an attorney. It you have read this far and decided to buy the book, good for you. You may have a chance. If you have not made it this far, I still wish you good luck on what will surely be a difficult journey.

Yes, you can file without an attorney but if it doesn't go well it will cost much more to "fix" it. You pay for the skill and knowledge an attorney has to maximize the benefit of a bankruptcy as well as minimize the harm. Most attorneys offer payment plans to make it more affordable.

You can file a bankruptcy without an attorney. You can also change your brakes without a mechanic. Neither is a particularly good idea.