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It is almost certain that under the new law filing bankruptcy will cost more.

In addition to the new credit counseling requirement for all filers and the means test for chapter 7, there are other changes in the bankruptcy laws.

You are required to do credit counseling within six months of filing your bankruptcy petition. You are also required to attend money management classes at your expense before your debts are discharged. Under the old bankruptcy law, the amount of equity in your house protected from creditors was set by the state where you filed.

If you have been moving around, the exemption of the state where you lived most of the time before the two-year period is used. It gets more complicated. Under the new law, if information provided in your case is found to be inaccurate, the attorney is subject to various fines and fees. It will be more difficult to find an attorney willing to handle your bankruptcy because of the liability and the time and effort it takes to verify all your information. The president of the American Bankruptcy Institute has reported that some attorneys say they may increase their fees by 75 to 100 percent.

See 'Further Changes Brought About by the New Bankruptcy Law' for information on Chapter 13 disposable income and changes regarding personal property.

You have information about the new bankruptcy law requirements for credit counseling, the income and means tests for chapter 7, residency requirements, and attorney liability, but there are even more changes you should know about.

If you are allowed to file Chapter 7 bankruptcy, there are changes in how your personal property is valued. That meant most, if not all your personal property would fall within the exempt property categories of most states.

Under the new bankruptcy law, you must value your property it the price it would cost to replace it retail, taking into account its age and condition.

Also, under the old bankruptcy rules, the exempt personal property you could keep under chapter 7 was determined by the laws of the state where you lived if you resided in the state for at leas three months. Otherwise you must use the exemptions of the state where you used to live. That reason behind that was to force people who could repay all or part of their debts to do so instead of using bankruptcy chapter 7 which wiped away most debts.

Chapter 13 bankruptcy required that you devote all your disposable income to repaying debts. Under the old rules, you subtracted your actual expenses from your monthly income to arrive at your disposable income. Then, instead of subtracting your actual expenses, you use allowed expense amounts set by the IRS. These amounts are often lower than your actual costs.

Under the old law, if your bankruptcy case was dismissed for any reason and you still couldn't pay your bills, it wasn't much of an issue to refile. The new law limits debt relief if you are filing after a prior case was dismissed. It would probably be a good idea to consult an attorney before you file.



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