Pace, FL Bankruptcy Law Firms & Lawyers

Yes, the filing fee is around $300, and it costs anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars to hire an attorney to do your bankruptcy, if you don't represent yourself. The attorney will be paid before the filing date, so that he or she is not one of your creditors when you file. If you are without funds to file the petition, you can ask for a waiver of fees. The information for this, and the forms to file your bankruptcy petition, are all available at the Bankruptcy Court, in person and on line. Good luck.

I would not recommend bankruptcy for someone with a mere $12K in debt. I would suggest that you consider whether you might be able to settle these debts for a reduced amount. You will need to offer the creditors a lump sum of cash to get a discount and you will need to have gone several months (and be in collection) in order to get the best settlement deals. The downside to doing this is that you will have a tax liablity for the amount of the debt any creditor has forgiven. Although bankruptcy does not require you to have a set dollar amount of debt, any bankruptcy case must be filed in good faith, which means that it would be nearly impossible for you to be able to realistically pay off this debt.