The bankruptcy paperwork looks simple at face value and many Michiganders are tempted to do it themselves because they may feel that they cannot afford an experienced and compassionate bankruptcy lawyer or that they don’t have anything to lose anyway.  This is unfortunate because a person may lose a lot more and an attorney can make the process less stressful and not as expensive in the long run.

Errors that a DIY bankruptcy filer will commonly make mistakes on:

• Exemptions may not be selected or applied to preserve assets
• Property may be omitted from the schedules
• Debtors forget to schedule intangibles like stock options
• Partnership interests; interest in pending probate estates; trust funds and lawsuits (filed or potential) are commonly omitted
• Tax refunds; or retirement funds may be forgotten or not included.

Creditors are erroneously omitted, either because DIY filers think that only a certain kind of creditor can be discharged, or omit a creditor because they want to repay the debt.

Debtors may not understand the seriousness about transferring assets to others before filing or deliberately not disclosing assets, on the grounds “no one will know”. 

These mistakes can lead to the loss of assets that could have been saved if an experienced bankruptcy lawyer was involved. At the very least, you may get less relief than was available by law.