It is certainly possible for you, on your own, to complete the necessary forms and other assorted paperwork required in order to initiate a Bankruptcy proceeding.  However, you should also understand the risks involved in acting as your own lawyer. 

Merely giving answers to the questions posed in the Bankruptcy forms will not necessarily provide maximum protection for your property interests in your home, car and other valuable assets.  Simply answering the questions asked will do nothing to help structure your assets, pre-Bankruptcy, in such a manner so as to take full advantage of your allowable exemptions.  In addition to exemption planning, there are other important decisions which you need to make pre-Bankruptcy which should be done with the advice of an experienced Bankruptcy attorney. Such vital issues as:  (a) whether to file for Bankruptcy at all, (b) which type of Bankruptcy to file under, and (c) when to file for Bankruptcy, all need to be addressed, among others.  Although you may think the answers to these questions are obvious, you should understand that there are legal consequences to the decisions you make, some of which can be quite negative if not handled properly.    

Further, other extremely important decisions need to be made by the debtor during the course of a Bankruptcy proceeding, such as whether to “cramdown” a debt, whether to “reaffirm” a debt, and whether to “redeem” property, among many others.  The point is this — merely answering the questions on the forms properly will not alone cause you to take maximum advantage of the legal strategies and planning opportunities that are available to you in a Bankruptcy. 

Moreover, should you incorrectly fill out your Bankruptcy forms, or leave out important information, this also could have extremely negative legal consequences for you — for example, the loss of your valuable assets, or a denial of a discharge of your debts.  Additionally, you are filling out your Bankruptcy forms under penalty of perjury, and all the statements you make at the Section 341 First Meeting of the Creditors are also under penalty of perjury.  The Section 341 Meeting is tape recorded for this reason.  In essence, every word you utter at your Section 341 Meeting is sworn testimony in a Court of Law.   You should not underestimate the seriousness of these proceedings and of the importance of having proper professional guidance.

 Non-Attorney Bankruptcy Preparation Agencies:

There are many non-attorney agencies which offer to prepare your Bankruptcy forms for a nominal fee.  They often dub themselves as “document preparation services” or “independent paralegals” or “typing services”.   These non-attorney agencies are not allowed, pursuant to state law, to practice law without a law license.  This means they cannot offer you any legal advice, or even ask you the appropriate questions, in order to properly prepare your Bankruptcy forms.  As a result, Bankruptcy forms prepared by such agencies may not be sufficient to accomplish your goals.

Further if such agencies offer no legal advice, there is no value to the services they provide, beyond data entry.  And, as explained above, there are many planning opportunities and legal strategies that a debtor could take advantage of.  An agency which is merely filling out forms cannot help in this regard.  Further, such agencies, by definition, offer no assistance once the requisite forms are filed, and do not accompany the debtor to the Section 341 First Meeting of the Creditors.