If you are on the verge of bankruptcy, that may be a viable solution for you. But there may be other alternatives for you. A lawyer can provide the advice you need to make the right decision; however, you must consider the damage a bankruptcy will do to your credit rating. It will influence it for years to come, even affecting potential jobs and security clearances. One other option is to negotiate a bankruptcy debt settlement with your creditors, especially your credit card companies. In most cases you may want a lawyer to handle this negotiation as well. But creditors would rather agree to a partial settlement with you than wait until you declare bankruptcy when they may get nothing. This settlement will usually not be possible unless you've missed 3 or more payments, so your credit score will still have that negative influence, but it won't be as bad as a bankruptcy would be. There are also debt settlement companies that will offer to handle this negotiation for you, but be cautious and investigate them carefully. They often charge high rates and fail to complete these negotiations before doing great damage to your credit score.