Do I Need A Bolingbrook Bankruptcy Attorney To File In Will County?

You technically do not need an attorney to file a bankruptcy case.  You can file a bankruptcy case on your own, which is known as pro se.  However, I do not recommend that anybody attempt to file a bankruptcy case on their own, without an attorney in this day and age.  It used to be back in the day before the law changed on October 17, 2005 that many people could actually buy documentation from an office supply company, pick up the forms, fill them out, they could even hand write them, file it with court, walk up to the clerk, pay the filing fee, and the case would make it through, oftentimes, to completion without incident. 

That was yesterday.  Today it’s a different situation.  There are all kinds of pre-filing requirements, post-filing requirements.  The law has gotten complex.  I do not recommend you try to do this alone.  

Once you see what’s involved, once you look at a sample petition, once you meet with the attorney I think that you will realize that it’s over your head to do it yourself.  Many attorneys feel that it’s over their head to do it and that’s why they refer them to bankruptcy attorneys like me, who specialize in this type of practice.  It used to be back in the day an attorney who was a general practitioner would do a case here and there because it was relatively simple, as long as they had either the software or the forms and they knew the Illinois exemption laws to protect property.  Nowadays there are so many requirements, the pre-filing, and the post-filing and certain things that happen throughout the case that attorneys who used to do a case here and there are typically referring those to other bankruptcy attorneys like me. 

I talked to a woman today who filed a Chapter 13 bankruptcy by herself, without an attorney.  It’s a miracle, but she’s been on the case for one year.  That tells me that she made it farther than most people would ever make it on their own, especially a Chapter 13 bankruptcy case.  However, the reason for the phone call today was she’s falling behind on her mortgage payments, and the mortgage company is bringing a motion to modify the automatic stay in her Chapter 13 bankruptcy case.  Now although she’s representing herself, she called me because she doesn’t know what’s going to happen next, whether the case is going to get dismissed, whether she’s going to get an opportunity to re-file, and what I told her was something that she would have never really known on her own.  I told her that typically, if you fall behind on your mortgage payment, the mortgage company will allow what’s called a default repayment order, which will allow you to repay the part that you fell behind inside of your bankruptcy over a course of three to five months. 

Now knowing this information and being able to negotiate that with a creditor’s attorney is something that a skilled Chapter 13 bankruptcy attorney can do for you.  If you file the case yourself you are not going to know this.  You are not going to have any experience in this, and you’re not going to have the success that you would have had if you would have used a highly trained bankruptcy attorney.  So I do not recommend that anybody file a bankruptcy case without an attorney, whether it is a Chapter 7 fresh start or a Chapter 13 bill consolidation through the court.  There are just too many pitfalls and roadblocks and obstacles that one has to navigate through to have a successful Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy case. 

Even with many attorneys, attorneys are running into problems because they’re unaware of the law changes and they’re unaware of how things really go down in a Chapter 13 bankruptcy case.  Do yourself a favor.  Spend the money on a bankruptcy attorney.  Rest assured that your case is going to go successfully.  Don’t try to do it alone.  Don’t try to perform surgery on yourself.