There are a couple of ways you can go about filing for bankruptcy. The most reliable is to secure a bankruptcy attorney and have them do it for you. They are experts in this area and will often take care of everything for you including appearing in court on your behalf.

They do charge a fee for this service, however. That fee can range anywhere from $500 to $2,000 depending on your area. Yes, it is odd that they’ll charge that high a fee to file a bankruptcy for someone who doesn’t have money in the first place, but many will accept payments.

You can also file the bankruptcy yourself. There are many places on the Internet where you can download the forms you will need. Be advised that they are often lengthy and in-depth, but they are fairly straight-forward when you take the time to fill them out completely.

Once you have the forms all filled out, take them to your local courthouse and pay the filing fee which is usually around $100 to $200. You will receive a notice of a court date at which time you will need to show up and the judge will grant your request for bankruptcy.

The bad part about filing yourself is that you have to contact all your creditors yourself to let them know that the bankruptcy has been filed. You have to be very careful to list each and every one of your debts so they will apply under the discharge order. If you miss even one, you will have to pay it after the bankruptcy is granted.

Filing for bankruptcy might not be your only option. One of the newest trends in achieving financial freedom and a good credit score is to secure the services of a credit counseling or debt consolidation company. But do they work?

Filed under: Credit Counseling