The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men Often Go Awry

Clients considering filing for bankruptcy often lament: “I hate having to do this; I just wasn’t raised this way.”  In response, I often query: “What way?”  The clients respond: “… to not pay my bills.”  “Were you raised to choose paying your charge cards over feeding your family when faced with that horrible choice?”, I ask.  

Well, I actually get the point:  We were all raised not to take on more debt than we can comfortably afford to repay.  The reality is, in all my years of practicing bankruptcy law, I have never met a person who set out with the intention of becoming financially overextended.  People don’t plan to fail; they plan to succeed.  But we live in a country with an economic system that encourages and even promotes financial risk-taking in both our personal and professional lives. 

Plan as we may, however, sometimes the unexpected happens: economic downturns, illness and death, unemployment,  and divorce.  Suddenly, affordable risk can become out-of-control debt… and a person can find herself faced with choosing between feeding her family and paying her charge cards. 

By the time clients get to our office, it's too late to heed the lessons of our upbringing; the debt has already been incurred and the concern now is all about paying it back. 

In fact, my upbringing never taught me how to deal with out-of-control debt.  Whose did? Most people were raised to be financially responsible.  But sometimes, life doesn't go as planned; and sometimes, bankruptcy is the financially responsible solution.

Since 1986, The Rothbloom Law Firm has served residents of Cobb, Fulton, Gwinnett, Paulding, Cherokee, DeKalb, and all metro-Atlanta counties seeking relief from their business and personal debt. Our attorneys, Howard Rothbloom and Adam Herring, provide thoughtful counseling, careful planning, and creative lawyering in bankruptcy cases filed under Chapter 7, Chapter 13, and Chapter 11. Contact us today to discuss whether bankruptcy may be an option to relieve you of the burdens of business and consumer debt.