There are people and organisations available to help and advise you through the process. One of the best ‘free' services is the Citizen's Advice Bureau, simply find your local branch and call them or drop in. They are there to help.

The initial step is to start the process by filing a bankruptcy petition, if you are filing for bankruptcy yourself then this will be called a ‘Debtor's Petition'. If you wish to file for bankruptcy you need to visit your local court and they will give you the details of your closest county court that actually deals with bankruptcy hearings.

If your creditors, the people you owe money to, are forcing you to go bankrupt then they will file the bankruptcy petition. This is then called a ‘Creditor's Petition' and can only be filed by those people that you owe £750 or more to.

When you file the petition for bankruptcy there is a charge of £370 to the court, this covers the court fee andalso the official receiver's deposit.

Once the petition has been filed there will be a court date set. This will be for the first hearing. During this hearing one of the following options will occur:

• The court may require more information before it decides whether to issue a bankruptcy order therefore the proceedings will have to be delayed.

• The court may dismiss the bankruptcy petition that has been filed.

• There maybe an individual voluntary arrangement put in place via an insolvency practitioner.

• The court will make a bankruptcy order immediately and you will be declared bankrupt straight away.

You will discover that once a bankruptcy order has been made that an official receiver will be nominated to look after all your affairs. An official receiver is a civil servant and also an officer of the court.

Once you have been declared bankrupt, you will need to have an interview with the official receiver. During this initial meeting you will discuss your reasons for declaring yourself bankrupt. The official receiver will weigh up your assets and your liabilities, you will then be appointed a trustee. If you have no assets you will not require a trustee.

The trustee is the person that is responsible for selling any property that you actually own and dividing the sale proceeds between your creditors.

You will be discharged automatically from bankruptcy generally a year from the date that the bankruptcy order was issued.

Always consider all the options open to you before you file for bankruptcy, weigh everything up carefully. If bankruptcy is still the answer then do not panic, all you need is accurate and up to date information on the whole process. When I filed for bankruptcy I wish I had someone who was willing to explain all the jargon which made bankruptcy seem so mysterious and frightening.