I have been trying to come up with a succinct way to explain to my clients at Halcomb Singler, LLP that, while we should all try to avoid bankruptcy, that filing bankruptcy does not make you a deadbeat, bad person, or lowlife. Each and every person I meet with regarding bankruptcy would much rather pay their bills than ever make a phone call to my office. Many of the folks I meet with have been trying to pay off their bills for months or years and are just not getting anywhere. However, they are still very afraid of filing bankruptcy and tell me things such as, "My parents didn't raise me to file bankruptcy. I was taught that I must always pay my bills," or "I used the credit card and got the benefit of it...I should have to pay it back."
After years of representing Indianapolis area people in Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcies I think I may have finally come up with a good way to explain why sometimes in spite of how you would love to be able to pay your bills that sometimes bankruptcy is a viable option. That explanation is that sometimes you have to pick your family (or yourself) over your creditors.
The reason I say it this way is that when I meet with a prospective client regarding bankruptcy I am always go over how much money they are spending on various living expenses including such expenses as clothing, food and children's activities. I cannot overstate how often people tell me that they spend whatever money on food that they have left over after paying their bills or how they haven't spent any money on clothing for themselves in years. It is also common for me to hear that a child used to be involved in a school club or sporting activity, but has not been able to participate in many years due to the household financial situation.
While I am certainly not a proponent of filing bankruptcy if there is another way to solve debt problems, I find myself getting angry that people would choose to pay a credit card bill over providing their family with proper food. I am not angry at the people that I meet with, but with creditors. I have found myself wondering how bankruptcy became to be such a "stigma" in our society. And even though, in my opinion, the "stigma" has lessened since 2008, I wonder how we got to the point where people would starve themselves to pay a credit card bill? The answer that I have come to is that creditors are very powerful lobbyists. Creditors have used fear to cause people to think that they will be left with nothing and that their lives will be over if they don't pay their bills. People come in to my office thinking that they will come out of bankruptcy penniless and homeless and that they will never be able to buy anything on credit ever again. The only plausible way that I can identify as to why so many of the folks I meet with think this is because the creditor lobby, largely through fear of the dropping credit score, have been very successful in tricking Americans into thinking that life will literally be over if you don't pay every bill.
And this is where I come back to my opinion that sometimes you have to choose your family (or yourself) over your creditors. It does not make sense to me to deprive your family of the most basic necessities in order to pay a creditor so that you can protect your precious credit score. Bankruptcy is available to Hoosiers because some times you need a way to fix your finances that you are not able to do on your own. Bankruptcy is available to Hoosiers because sometimes no matter how hard you try to cut every corner, stretch every dollar and work every extra minute that sometimes you still do not have enough money to pay your bills. Bankruptcy is available to Hoosiers because it is a legal way of getting a second financial chance and it is a way to make sure that you are able to provide for the basic needs of yourself or your family without continued calls, lawsuits and hounding by your creditors.
Bankruptcy is certainly not for everyone. However, if you find yourself in a situation where you are depriving yourself or your family of basic needs in order to pay creditors I recommend you speak with a bankruptcy attorney. I provide a free consultation at my office to review your financial situation, allow you to ask any questions you have about bankruptcy and let you know whether or not I believe bankruptcy would be beneficial. I represent people in the Indianapolis area including Carmel, Fishers, Tipton, Kokomo, Zionsville, Fisher and Noblesville in Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcy proceedings. Call my Carmel office at (317) 575-8222 or click here to set up your appointment.
Halcomb Singler, LLP, is a debt relief agency. It helps people file for bankruptcy under the bankruptcy code. No attorney-client relationship with the firm of Halcomb Singler, LLP, is created through this blog. Also, please note that Erika Singler is an attorney licensed in Indiana and does not seek to practice law in any jurisdiction in which they are not properly authorized to do so. The information contained in this blog is general in nature and should not be relied upon for the circumstances of any individual(s) or businesses.
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