One of things I have learned as a lawyer is that there is a great deal of legal misinformation out there. The Internet has done nothing but help to amplify these legal myths. As a bankruptcy lawyer, I frequently meet people whose notions of bankruptcy are completely contrary to the facts.
One of those notions is that bankruptcy is used by people who are trying to defraud their creditors after irresponsibly running up their debt without any intention of repaying them. While I’m sure that such people exist, I can’t recall that being the case for any of my clients.
As a bankruptcy attorney, I believe it is one of my responsibilities to clear up some of the myths out there about people who file. I can’t think of a better example than a woman who came to me several months after her husband died. He passed after a brief but painful bout with cancer. As you can imagine, his battle resulted in a great deal of medical bills. After he passed, those providers still expected to be paid, and they went after my client without any regard for giving her a chance to grieve his passing. Unfortunately, my client had also left many of the household financial duties to her husband. After his passing, she discovered they owed back taxes and had some credit card debt.
When she came to me, she was unsure what her options were. Since she was retired, her only source of income was social security. I explained to her that her creditors and husband’s medical providers wouldn’t be able to take any of her social security income. For her, bankruptcy would primarily provide her psychological relief. It would stop the phone calls, but wouldn’t have any effect on her personal finances since she wasn’t paying these debts anyway.
Ultimately. she decided to file chapter 7 bankruptcy. For her, she needed the relief from the debt collection efforts that bankruptcy provides. The second we filed her petition, those phone calls had to stop. That was what she needed. To feel the pressure of the debt collectors on top of the feelings of grief for the loss of her husband were too much.
If you have questions about whether bankruptcy may help your financial circumstances, we hope you’ll come in for a free, no-obligation consultation with one of the attorneys at Colorado Bankruptcy Law Group, LLC. During the consultation you’ll get the chance to ask all the questions you have about the bankruptcy process and leave with a better idea of whether it might be a good option for you.
You can schedule your appointment by calling 303.331.3403 or by using our online appointment scheduling system.
