If i have no assets, do those "do it yourself" bankruptcy kits for chapter 7 work OK?

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Q. If i have no assets, do those "do it yourself" bankruptcy kits for chapter 7 work OK? If not what mistakes are/can commonly be made when using them. what are their flaws? If they work, any suggestions on which ones are the best?

A. I've taken over a number of cases where a debtor prepared and filed the various bankruptcy documents without the help of an attorney. Apart from the fact that the schedules generally have to be completely redone (the exemptions are usually wrong, debts are not listed, assets are not listed or are listed or valued incorrectly, the Statement of Financial Affairs is incorrect, and the budget is generally wrong), a number of these people lost their homes as a result of not being advised about what was required, how the process worked, how to value assets, how to deal with various types of debts, etc.--something an attorney is required to do. Others ran into severe problems at the Meeting of Creditors, where they have no one to turn to for preparation or advice, Generally, pro se debtors don't know what the Trustee is looking for, or how to properly deal with the Trustee's questions and concerns. One ended up being charged with bankruptcy fraud--all because she didn't understand the effects of what the information put in their schedules meant. Bankruptcy is a very tricky area of the law (even to attorneys who don't regularly practice it). Interestingly enough for a federal system, it is very state and locality specific. What will work in California, for example, probably won't fly here in Maryland. I've been through it myself and I can tell you that the cost is well worth the money. An inexperienced layman can easily make 1 mistake that would cost more than the price of a good BK attorney. Not only does a layman not have the advantage of legal expertiece, he or she does not have experience with the BK court that you are filing in. Some things you can do just as well as anyone else, like cutting your grass. Other things require education about what you are doing and experience doing it. Filing BK falls into the second category.

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