subject: Bankruptcy Attorney Or Petition Preparer: What Do You Need? [print this page] When someone decides they need to discharge their debt, they usually want to hire a professional to help them do it. If so, they quickly run into two options: hire a bankruptcy attorney or look into hiring a petition preparer. For someone who knows little about the process, the draw of a petition preparer is obvious: it's a lot cheaper. Unfortunately, you don't get a lot for the money, when compared to hiring a lawyer. It's a personal decision, but it's one that can have significant ramifications. Here are some of the differences.
The Petition Preparer
A petition preparer, first and foremost, is not a bankruptcy attorney. Nor do they work for one, typically. Someone thinking about filing may decide to hire one because they are in quite a bit of financial trouble and don't quite see how spending a lot of their meager funds on a lawyer is a good idea. Others may believe they can learn everything they need to know about filing from their own research, thus eliminating the need for professional legal representation.
Services
It's essential to call a spade a spade when you're dealing with a matter as serious as this. A petition preparer is little more than a data entry clerk. You give them your information and they fill out the proper forms with that information. They don't make recommendations, and they don't add their own expertise into the equation. Legally, they can't. All they can do is ensure the forms themselves are typed up correctly and presented to the court in the correct fashion. A bankruptcy attorney does much, much more. The services are hardly comparable.
The Bankruptcy Attorney
There are few more serious matters than deciding to file. It can have grave ramifications, potentially ruining your credit for the foreseeable future. Of course, even with that in mind, there is sometimes no better choice. But to move forward without legal advice is a mistake. Even in the most straightforward cases, there are going to be several serious and complicated decisions to make. If you try to make these decisions on your own, it could result in your petition being rejected. A good lawyer can advise you every step of the way, make sure you're doing the right thing for your situation, and increase your chances of success dramatically. The choice, for anyone who wants their filing done right, is obvious.
