Technically speaking, any individual (though not companies or other entities) is allowed to file for bankruptcy in the United States “pro se”, or by themselves without an attorney. However, having the right to do something does not mean that it is a good idea. Most people facing criminal prosecution are also allowed to represent themselves in court and this usually results in a disaster for the person that does so. While filing for bankruptcy pro se may not be as dangerous as defending yourself in criminal proceedings, you can still damage your case or even eliminate much of the possible benefits of bankruptcy by opting to go without an attorney. The real determining factor about whether to file for bankruptcy by yourself is whether or not you have anything to lose.

As a general rule, if you have absolutely no assets and no (or a very small) income, filing pro se might be a viable option for you. Most of the mistakes that people make when filing by themselves either leave some property open to creditors seeking repayment or fail to include some creditors and outstanding bills in the entire process, meaning they are exempt from the courts power. However, if you have no assets that the creditors can go after and you have no income that they can garnish, then there is very little danger of failing to exempt property or failing to list creditors.

However, if you do have property that your creditors can go after in court and/or if you have a stable income that your creditors can have garnished by a court; then having an attorney is probably the right decision. People with no assets and no income basically have nothing to lose if they make a mistake in the filing, whereas someone that does have something to lose should be far more careful. This is even truer if you have complex assets like real estate, which can be pursued by creditors in many different ways. Further, the creditors frequently look at the financial position of people filing for bankruptcy protection before determining whether or not to actively fight the case or to simply go through the motions. When the creditors see someone with tangible assets and an income filing for bankruptcy protection without an attorney, they almost always actively engage the case since it is an almost sure win for them.

Although you can file without an attorney and if you have nothing much to lose it is probably the right decision to make, you should still take the time to become familiar with the process and have at least some idea of what you are doing. The bankruptcy courts are notorious for having little patience for mistakes and some mistakes – if they appear to directly benefit you – will likely be interpreted as a deliberate deception and treated as such by the court. The old adage that “He who represents himself has a fool for a client” is very much applicable to the bankruptcy courts, though if there is nothing to lose it does not really matter.