Do-it-yourself personal bankruptcy in california

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While you may file bankruptcy without a lawyer in California, the question is whether you should. The U.S. Bankruptcy Court recommends against it, as bankruptcy is a complex legal process with serious financial consequences. However, you can get a copy of bankruptcy rules and forms and save a lot of money in attorney fees if you can manage the process yourself.

1. Find Your Local Courthouse

   • Even though you must follow federal procedural rules to file bankruptcy in California, you also have to observe the local rules of your bankruptcy court. To find the specific rules that may apply to your case, check to see which district bankruptcy court will accept your petition. California has four bankruptcy districts, and each has jurisdiction over specific counties. For example, the Central California Bankruptcy District has courthouses in Los Angeles, Riverside, Santa Ana, Woodland Hills and Santa Barbara, and has jurisdiction over seven counties. Check with your local bankruptcy clerk or on your district's website for the most recent version of both federal and local bankruptcy forms.

   See Whether You Qualify

   • Most debtors can qualify for a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, which essentially reorganizes your debts into one monthly payment that you must make for as long as five years. The only restrictions to qualifying for Chapter 13 are extremely high debts levels, as established by the court. However, you must qualify for Chapter 7 based on income. Many debtors prefer Chapter 7 bankruptcy, which is over in as few as three months and may not require anything more than a filing fee from you. To determine whether you qualify, you have to take the means test, found on Bankruptcy Form 22A. Basically, you must have an income lower than the California median income, and you must have little to no disposable income after expenses. If you don't qualify for Chapter 7, you usually have to file Chapter 13 if you are committed to filing bankruptcy.

   Protect Your Assets

   • If you qualify for Chapter 13, bankruptcy law protects all of your assets and you do not need to use bankruptcy exemptions. For Chapter 7 debtors, California offers two systems of exemptions that you can choose from to determine what property you can keep after bankruptcy. Since you don't have to pay your creditors anything in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy in California, you give the bankruptcy court the right to take and sell excessively valuable possessions. However, the state grants exemptions for a basic amount of property so you aren't left with nothing. For example, in California you can probably keep your $1,000 car in Chapter 7 bankruptcy, but if you have a $100,000 Maserati, the courts will liquidate it.

   Counseling and Meetings

   • Do not overlook the mandatory requirements of bankruptcy, or the court will dismiss your case. Within 180 days before filing bankruptcy, take part in credit counseling. Before you can get your discharge, you must take an additional course in financial management. You must also attend a meeting before your bankruptcy trustee known as the Section 341 meeting. This meeting is usually about a month after you file bankruptcy. If you follow all court procedures and see to your mandatory requirements, you can usually get a bankruptcy discharge about two months after your Section 341 meeting in a Chapter 7 case. The court does not grant a Chapter 13 discharge until after your payments are made in full.

Source: www.ehow.com

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