Image courtesy of happysnappa1966 (Flickr).
While some of us like to live in a bubble, in our modern world, it is almost impossible to avoid the background noise and incessant societal chatter. In our day to day lives, we interact with friends, coworkers, family members and strangers who influence our decisions and our actions.
When we are undecided, we seek advice and not surprisingly, people are more than willing to give it.
Sometimes this is a good thing. I know in my life, my family keeps me grounded and present.
Occasionally and unfortunately, self-proclaimed experts will give advice or offer help that will be detrimental. I see this all the time in my bankruptcy practice with confused potential clients.
The decision to (or not to) file bankruptcy, which could be a life changing one, should not be made based on the advice of an ill informed family member, friend, coworker or "expert" on social media.
Speak to a Bankruptcy Lawyer
The decision to file bankruptcy is not an easy one. I believe that the individuals I meet with have a lot of courage to even step into my office. I give them a ton of credit and understand the pain and anguish caused by debt.
Through the eyes of my clients, I am able to see the misinformation that is distributed about the bankruptcy process. This misinformation spreads like wildfire from the mainstream media to financial advisers to social media to acquaintances and finally trickles down to you, the struggling consumer.
I speak to people everyday who have heard “this myth” or “that myth” about bankruptcy and make a decision based on those myths. Don’t do this!
The dangers of filing bankruptcy without an attorney are well documented. The dangers of not filing bankruptcy without first speaking to an attorney are stories that go untold.
Before you make a decision to file or not to file bankruptcy, speak to an experienced bankruptcy attorney.
The consultation is free, but the information gleaned from that meeting is priceless.