Is Bankruptcy Embarrassing?
Being an adult is rough. As an adolescent we would hesitate to do things, worried about what our peers would think, and often, being an adult is no different. Being an adult doesn’t mean you no longer have emotions or that you don’t worry about others judging you. However, being an adult DOES mean that you need to go ahead and make the hard decisions that DO come with consequences, BUT do turn out better for you in the long run.
Bankruptcy has a weird stigma and connotation like people think their name will appear on some “website of shame” or something. The truth is, unless you’re a celebrity, you probably won’t hit any tabloids.
Most of bankruptcy is between you and your lawyer. As with any other attorney/client relationship, the attorney/client privilege of confidentiality applies.
When your case is filed with the bankruptcy court, your case will be sent to your creditors for obvious reason. Additionally, any family or friends that you owe money to will be notified as well since you are required to list ALL debts. Therefore, now your lawyer knows and the people you owe money. No one else. It is true that your filing of bankruptcy is public record but no one would ever know unless for some reason they purposely sought it out.
The only time you will be out in public discussing your bankruptcy is at your “Meeting of Creditors”. This meeting is a short meeting between you and your bankruptcy trustee. Creditors are welcome to attend however, they usually don’t. These meetings are generally held in a conference room and last about five minutes or so. So, rest assured that this is a short meeting with STRANGERS that you’ll probably never see again. So, once again unless you’re a celeb and get caught by TMZ, the process is relatively short and painless.
No one will know you filed for bankruptcy unless you tell them. Besides all this, if you’re facing serious financial problems and TRULY WANT to begin to do what RIGHT with your money, you shouldn’t feel any shame in creating a fresh start with a clean slate for yourself. Hold your chin up and begin on the path of financial responsibility. You got this.
See Also:
– Bankruptcy Basics
– Should I File Bankruptcy?
– Bankruptcy Myths
