The new bankruptcy laws that went into effect in October 2005, added two mandatory credit counseling and financial management courses for bankruptcy filers. The prebankruptcy certification is a credit counseling course that must be taken within the 6 months prior to filing bankruptcy. One you have filed your bankruptcy petition the court will direct you to take the personal financial management course that must be completed in order for your bankruptcy to be discharged.

Online Prebankruptcy Credit Counseling Certification

This credit counseling course will help you evaluate your current financial condition including your debts, assets and income. They will help you come up with a budgeting plan that would allow you to pay off your creditors. They will also discuss your options for filing bankruptcy. This credit counseling course is designed to help people avoid filing for bankruptcy and must be completed within 180 days before you file. You must take the course from an approved center, and most of the centers offer the course in person, over the phone and online for your convenience.

You will get a paper certification saying you have completed the credit counseling course and this must be filed with your bankruptcy petition.

Online Personal Financial Management Course

After you have taken the prebankruptcy certification and filed your bankruptcy petition, you will have to take the personal financial management course and file that certification with the court in order for your final bankruptcy discharge to go into effect. This course will help you develop a budget, smart shopping skills and help you understand how to use credit. Obviously the course is designed to help you avoid another bankruptcy in the future. The personal financial management course must also be taken from an approved center and they typically offer online, phone and in person options.

Both of these online bankruptcy certification courses will cost you about $30-40 each, so this is an additional expense that needs to be considered when choosing to file bankruptcy. The courses are sponsored by credit companies that want to stop you from filing, so it’s important to speak with a bankruptcy attorney or get a free bankruptcy review so you can learn about your options from someone that is on your side for filing as well.