"Bankruptcy And An Abusive Relationship"

Life After Bankruptcy Stories

I used to have opinions about people who filed bankruptcy, probably the same opinions that most of the general public shares. In part, because there are always those people who try to “work the system” and file bankruptcy not out of need, but more of a scam--a way to avoid paying for the debts that they incurred.




Then I got involved in a very abusive and destructive relationship, and found that my opinion changed dramatically.

I had a good job, made decent money and, even as a single parent receiving no child support, I was doing well. I had even been able to purchase my own home.

Shortly after the guy I was seeing had moved in with me, the physical abuse started. In addition to controlling me and my kids, he also took charge of my paychecks and said that he would take care of paying the mortgage, all the bills, etc. (right after he quit his job and stopped working completely).

By the time I was able to get him permanently out of the house, it was nearly a year later. I then found out that my home was in foreclosure (no mortgage payments had been made in over nine months), there was more than $10,000 charged to my personal credit cards and a truck was purchased in my name, but no payments had been made.

I had a choice – I could either spend many, many years trying to pay off debts that I did not incur, or file bankruptcy.

I found that I was so angry every time I had to deal with creditors, that bankruptcy was the perfect solution to resolve a situation that I felt was unfair to me.

Although I realize that my creditors were also treated unfairly, I found that filing bankruptcy was a true new beginning for me and my kids (and a great lesson in controlling my own finances!). Judith - Illinois

Contributed by Judith from Illinois