Legislation passed in the past few years has made bankruptcy more difficult to qualify for – you’ll need a bankruptcy attorney to walk you through which kind of bankruptcy you qualify for or whether your debt to future expected income ratio even makes you a good candidate for bankruptcy.
Finding a REPUTABLE lawyer in your area would be a great first step.
You can also look at online “bankruptcy means” calculators to see for yourself which kind of bankruptcy (re-structuring, where you pay back the debts over more time, or “clean slate” where it’s wiped out) you can qualify for based on your household income.
Here’s one possible calculator link.
Last but not least, a cautionary tale. My husband’s ex declared bankruptcy and found difficulty even finding a place that would rent to her.
It’s a terrible black mark on your record for at minimum 7 to 8 years.
She’s had difficulty buying cars, purchasing home appliances and still is unable to have a credit card several years after.
Because she discharged some debts due to bad checks she wrote for the first few years she was even unable to have a checking account – no bank would touch her. Her circumstances may be financially more dire than yours (so your mileage may vary)...but something to keep in mind.
Also, some kinds of bankruptcy have rules about how many valuables you can keep. Take a look around you – if you have a good car (value in excess of $4k), good computer, any jewelry that has value..some flavors of bankruptcy would require you to liquidate (sell/auction) of anything you have of value to repay your creditors.