How much time do I have between completing all the bankruptcy documents and filing for bankruptcy?

Procedural Steps of a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Proceeding: After the initial interview and upon receipt of pertinent facts regarding assets and obligations, the following steps are involved. 1. Completion of Pleadings: The first step in preparing for a bankruptcy proceeding is the processing of the paperwork. 2. Pe-Bankruptcy Credit Counseling: Either concurrently with gathering all the information necessary to prepare your documents, or anytime within 180 days prior to the date your Bankruptcy Petition is filed, the second step involved in a Bankruptcy proceeding is completion of a credit counseling session. 3. Filing the Petition: After you have reviewed your Petition for accuracy and approved it, it is filed with the court. A Notice of Commencement of the proceedings is then sent to each of your creditors, along with a notice of the date and time of the creditors meeting set by the Court. 4. The Creditors Meeting: This informal meeting is set approximately 30 days after the filing of the Petition. 5. Post-Filing Debtor Education: In addition to the pre-filing counseling, you must show proof of completion of debtor education after the bankruptcy petition is filed, but before your debts are discharged. This is the last step. If your certificate of credit counseling completion is not filed before the date set for discharge (which is 90 days after the filing of the Petition), your case will be dismissed and your debts will not be discharged. That's the entire process, in a nutshell. Your attorney should be able to advise you where you are in the process. If you ever have questions about your case, you should contact your attorney. The information presented here is general in nature and should not be construed to be formal legal advice, nor the formation of a lawyer/client relationship.

You have 6 months since the time U completed the course. The Course is valid for 6 months regardless of when your lawyer completed the paperwork unless something drastic has changed - like you received an inheritance or something.

Generally, if you have an attorney prepare your petition, the attorney files it for you to make sure it is filed properly. Your credit counseling certificate must be received no more than 180 days before your petition is filed or it is stale. If you are going to file the documents yourself, make sure you speak with your attorney first to make sure you fully understand what is required.