Should I tell people I’ve filed for bankruptcy?
By: Jeena Cho
A client recently asked me recently if she should tell her 13 year old son that she is filing for bankruptcy. As lawyers, it’s often easy to forget the complex human emotions behind the decision to file for bankruptcy. There is no easy answer to the question to – Should you tell? namely because there is still much perceived social stigma and embarrassment associated with filing.
First, a brief disclosure – I don’t have a 13 year old child, and I’m not a mother. At 13, you are probably old enough to understand the importance of manging money, and the concept of bankruptcy. I also believe that children are more perceptive than most of us realize and you certainly don’t want your children posting a question on Yahoo! Answers like this because they can’t talk to you about it. What I don’t know is if you should tell your own child that you are going through bankruptcy. I’ll just default to a lawyer answer and say – “it depends.”
What I can say for sure is this. There are a lot of people filing for bankruptcy. I mean a lot. 1,531,997 to be exact in the last 12 months alone. Chances are, you know someone that has filed for bankruptcy – but he or she just didn’t tell you. To put this number into perspective, think about how prevalent cancer is and the number of people you know who have been recently diagnosed. I know personally two people that were diagnosed with cancer last year. There were just as many bankruptcy filings in the past 12 months as there were new cancer cases – number stands at 1,529,560.
Bankruptcy is one of those issues that we do not discuss as society. It’s not okay to discuss money (or debt) in polite company. It’s the pink elephant in the room that everyone is trying to ignore. I think it’s time to start a conversation about bankruptcy which has touched so many lives – to dispel some of the myths surrounding it and help those people going through it know that they are not alone.
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