Any Bankruptcy Experiences?

I am in the process of filing Chapter 7 bankruptcy right now. As of January of 2013 I had an 800 credit score and didn't really have to worry about repaying my credit cards. Since then, I had let an old friend move into my house because he fed me a sob story about having nowhere to go, and since I am a single woman with a 3BR house, I thought that I could help.

After he got settled in and we got engaged (because of all the BS lines that he fed me), his true colors started to show. I was in denial when I went to take cough syrup and it was all gone, or when I had any sort of alcohol around the house and that was gone too. He never contributed to the household and told me that I was "petty" for suggesting it. He's get drunk out of his mind and break stuff around the house and blame it on the cats or whatever. I was stupid and paid off some fines for him because there were some warrants for his arrest. I even discovered that he had used my credit cards without my permission when I went to check my records. He yelled at me like I was somehow in the wrong. I let him use my car to drive 45 minutes one way for his supervised visits with his son. It got so bad that it took me a lawyer, three visits to the magistrate, I don't know how many times the cops came to my house, and a PFA to get him out of there. Then he violated the PFA and I had to go to court again.
Meanwhile I was taking off from work because of medical issues and I was diagnosed with bipolar after years and years of just thinking I had depression and anxiety. Then the changes in insurance. What used to be a $17 copay for my therapist is now $70. A $20 copay for my regular doctor is now $80. I used to have a $1000 deductible, but now it’s $2500 with no copays until the deductible is met. At the same time the overtime I was able to get dried up.
After talking to a financial coach, my employee assistance plan referred me to a law office once I exhausted all other options and the only thing was left was bankruptcy. I sent these people a bunch of documentation and then after a while I could no longer get a hold of the law office. Then I come to find out that they sent my file to a different law office. I sent them all sorts of documents: pay stubs, bank statements, 401k, you name it. Then I finally get some response that the filing was supposed to be done last month. Exactly a month later I get a response from an attorney that my file “slipped through the cracks” and I had to send my documentation yet a third time. I had to retake my pre-certification counseling because they took so long that it expired. I am so so tired of this. Is this supposed to be this damn hard?

I'm so sorry they have been so incompetent with your case.

When I filed I paid the lawyer, gave them a list of all my creditors, a list of all my assets and then I had to take the counseling course. within 3 months I went before the judge and my bankruptcy was granted.

My lawyer was straightforward and kept me apprised every step of the way. I'd honestly see if you could get your money back and start over with a different lawyer. What you have gone through is ridiculous.

I had a bankrupcty in 98' - I need one now, when my untreated mental illnesses caught up to me in 09- my credit went from great to now around 300. But on ssi, not only can I not afford it, but I will never again have money beyond ssi. So, I slowly have to wait years for things to come off. Plus I have a judgement against me that doesn't come off for years yet. :/

My '98 bankruptcy didn't have the issues you have to go through - but doing the bankruptcy will actually help you to build back your credit rating.

Best of luck to you.

I had a bankrupcy too, my lawyer made it really easy and matter a fact , and I felt a greater peace of mind in the end, even though, I felt bad not paying..

I am really glad that there were some responses. I have never gone through something like this before and have no idea what to expect. It doesn't help talking to people who aren't going/haven't gone through this, because they just feed my anxiety and make it sound like I am going to be left with nothing but the clothes on my back. I managed to go 6 months without needed to use FMLA. Now I am using it again due to anxiety and depression, and I think that this whole ordeal is a big part of it. My therapist says that this is just a temporary situation, but it doesn't feel that way when it keeps dragging on and on like this.

The day before yesterday, the paralegal sent me a copy of the finished petition. When I read over it, there were a bunch of mistakes. And not little ones either. For one, she didn't list my creditors on the petition. I had filled out a 30 page questionnaire with all of this information on it. Then she didn't list one of my 401k accounts. The biggest one that she listed my income for the past 6 months as though that is the amount I make every month. So then it looks like I make over $200k a year when I actually make a little over $40k. I e-mailed her back with the name of the form and the page number of the documents with the mistakes and she just wasn't getting what I was trying to say. For the means test, which I do meet, she was supposed to take that 6 month figure and divide by 6. All she had to do is go back and read the thing to see what I was talking about. Now they are correcting it and every day it's going to be done that afternoon, and every day it isn't done yet.

Btw, I got the name of this law firm as a referral through my Employee Assistance Plan. I need to call them up and tell them what's happening. If they are screwing up that bad with me, imagine how many other people are affected.