"Medical Bills and Bankruptcy"
Life After Bankruptcy Stories
My wife and I were forced to declare personal bankruptcy in 2008 due to an overwhelming number of medical bills. Like most people, my wife and I considered filing bankruptcy as an option of last resort.But the main thing we learned from the whole bankruptcy process is that we waited too long. Once it became apparent that bankruptcy was our best alternative, we should have just gone ahead and done it instead of agonizing about it for many months.
We had thought that bankruptcy was difficult and would result in the total loss of everything we owned. We found this to be just plain not true. In the end, we found the whole process relatively easy and we were not rendered homeless or destitute.
Our bankruptcy attorney met with us at our convenience. He listened to our situation and gave us excellent advice. He provided us with guides to read that explained the entire process in easily understandable detail.
Using these instructions, we collected our documentation and returned to the attorney's office. He started the paperwork according to our wishes. Our attorney arranged for the mandatory debt counseling to be completed by us over the internet. It was done at our convenience and was very quick. My wife and I even learned a few financial tips about debt management that have proved useful.
Perhaps our greatest surprise was that we were able to control the bankruptcy process ourselves.
We did not automatically lose our home and everything else we owned. We were allowed to make arrangements to continue to pay on our home and vehicle. We made the choice to default on the medical bills and some of the more intolerable credit cards.
In the end, we left bankruptcy court with our dignity, peace of mind, home and vehicle in place. We had rid ourselves of a mountain of medical related debt that we could never have overcome. I regret the many sleepless nights that I would have saved if I had just investigated bankruptcy earlier.
Contributed by Richard from Florida
