The short answer is yes! Don't try to file a bankruptcy without one!
Your attorney will know the law first and foremost. The attorney will know if you have too much property or income for instance as he will do a means test calculation for you as is required by the law. I recently came in on a bankruptcy case where a bankruptcy filer should never have filed a case because this person had non-exempt income or assets.
The trustee just claimed all of those assets for the creditors as they will do when there are assets available to seize. If an experienced bankruptcy attorney would have been consulted in the beginning then they could have advised the client not to file for bankruptcy at all in that case.
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The client could have saved the filing fee, attorney's fees, administrative fees and they could have worked out a deal to pay the debts back. As it turned out the client had to surrender assets necessary to pay all of these costs and he had to pay the debts back in full. It would have been much cheaper not to file bankruptcy in the first place and to make matters worse the clients assets were tied up for over a year.
Secondly you need an attorney because the attorney will know the bankruptcy procedures. Filing for bankruptcy requires many procedural steps which are difficult for the novice to comply with. An attorney will file the case electronically with special bankruptcy software that automatically complies with the procedural requirements of the court. I have seen many filers in 341 hearings who didn't know what they were doing so they made serious errors. These errors usually result in delays and continuances and sometimes in dismissals of the bankruptcy case.
If the case is dismissed then the debts come back into play and the whole reason for filing is negated. Now you have lost the filing fee and you will suffer other penalties like losing the automatic stay for a year.
Thirdly you need an attorney because if you hire one you should get an expert who knows the law,and the procedure but also someone who knows the trustees. Each bankruptcy trustee is a little different and each has slightly different requirements. An experienced attorney will know what each one needs and what each one likes to receive in terms of supporting documentation. This will inevitably help you through the process in the smoothest and quickest fashion.
Lastly with an attorney you get someone to accompany you through the process. I accompany all of my clients to the 341 meeting of creditors and I am available for any questions that they might have about the process at any time. This helps people to have fewer fears and worries about something that people naturally are very scared about.
So there are many reasons to hire an experienced bankruptcy attorney to help with your bankruptcy. Remember too that the attorney is the only one that can represent you in court in the unlikely event that things go badly. So if you are considering bankruptcy then hire an attorney and don't do it yourself!
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