Now that the new bankruptcy laws have been in effect for over two years, you may be wondering how you will be affected if you need to file bankruptcy and what your options are for completing the forms yourself. The Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 (BAPCPA) did not change the fact that anyone can represent themselves in a bankruptcy filing, it simply put into place average expenses that would be accepted by the courts and paperwork that would quickly show the bankruptcy trustees whether you had enough disposable income to pay a part or all of your debts.

Pro Se bankruptcy filers will have to spend more time preparing their own bankruptcy forms. The largest part of which will be the Means Test. It's not an actual test, it's simply a complete breakdown of your income and living expenses. If your income is less than a specific amount, based on family size and living location, you do not have to complete a large portion of the additional paperwork. If your income is over the amount then you will have to answer more questions in order to determine exactly how much disposable income you have left each month.

This extra paperwork has driven up the cost of filing bankruptcy, as well as the mandatory credit counseling courses that must be completed. This has forced some to file on their own, but you want to make sure you know what you are doing if you choose this route. Most of the bankruptcy court websites, http://www.bankruptcyfor … rts.shtml, have the local rules online as well as instructions for filing your bankruptcy petition. If you are comfortable reading and choosing your own exemptions and learning what you need to do for reaffirmation agreements, or have no property, filing bankruptcy yourself might be a very good option. If you have a lot of property, don't have the time to read up on the laws or just don't want to deal with it, finding a competent bankruptcy attorney is probably a better option. If you are comfortable with completing your bankruptcy petition but want someone to type it up professionally there are Non-attorney bankruptcy petition preparers available. These preparers cannot give legal advice but can prepare your petition so it is acceptable to the courts.

Filing bankruptcy is a hard decision, but can still be done on your own. Most bankruptcy attorneys provide a free consultation so you can learn your options and determine which avenue makes the most sense for your situation and personal finances.

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