Although it is possible to file bankruptcy without a lawyer, it is best to file Chapter 7 bankrutpcy with the help of a bankruptcy attorney. Filing Chapter 13 bankruptcy is even more complicated, and most likely cannot be done by a non-lawyer.
You will probably get a better result if you hire an attorney. You may be able to find an attorney who will give you a free or low-cost initial consultation by contacting a local bar association or lawyer referral service. If you are very poor, there may be a legal aid office in your area that can locate someone to represent you free.
While ordinary people can sometimes handle a very simple Chapter 7 case on their own, without an attorney, the average person who is not a laywer probably cannot handle a Chapter 13 case pro se, or without a lawyer. These cases require close attention to detail in drafting a debt repayment plan, negotiating with creditors and with the Chapter 13 Trustee’s office, and so on.
If you own a home or other very valuable property, it’s a very bad idea to represent yourself in a bankruptcy case under any chapter. You might save a couple of thousand dollars in attorney’s fees only to learn that you’ve made a mistake that will cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Penny wise, in other words, can end up being pound foolish.