A Simple Guide to Understanding the Impact of Personal Bankruptcy

By Chris Blanchet

For those who are considering personal bankruptcy, it is unlikely that all of the personal and professional consequences are known. However, the impact is quite serious and, often, harmful.

For a lot of people with a lot of debt, personal bankruptcy might seem like a popular option, particularly when debt and credit collectors are calling and making harassing remarks. While bankruptcy might promise to be an easy fix to the calls and sleepless nights, you should never hurry into bankruptcy. Although it can end the calls, it frequently proves to be the biggest mistake that prior bankrupt borrowers ever make.

Personal bankruptcy comes with serious consequences, both to your personal and financial life. Here are some of them:

One of the biggest risks that bankruptcy poses to the debtor is that assets are often sold by the trustee to settle debts. Assets are anything of value, including property, investments, and other items of value.

Bankruptcy also puts to risk all future assets like an inheritance. Once a person declares bankruptcy his future assets would also be sold off to pay his creditors.

Besides putting current and future assets at risk, the impact of personal bankruptcy includes a damaging credit report that will affect any intentions of becoming a company director or obtain any non-personal credit for the rest of your life.

Perhaps the worst impact of personal bankruptcy comes after the bankruptcy order is advertised locally. This damages the reputation of an individual's name and personal business dealings. Unlike companies, individual debtors cannot trade under a different name. So for the debtor who has declared bankruptcy in the past, all of this information is available in the public domain.

What is likely the harshest impact of personal bankruptcy is something that comes after the bankruptcy notice is advertised. Given the public nature of bankruptcy, the debtor's name and personal business dealings are in jeopardy. Unlike companies who can operate under different trade names, individuals have just one name. And since bankruptcy are publicly available, anyone can access the details of your bankruptcy.

Personal bankruptcy will have an impact on your reputation. With your financial affairs being examined in an open court, the process will not only prove to be extremely stressful, but others have found the whole experience rather humiliating.

On top of all of this, a personal bankruptcy will have even more of a financial impact given the court costs and processing fees that come with filing.

If you are considering bankruptcy as a debt clearance option, then try gaining some knowledge about other alternatives. For more information on the impact of personal bankruptcy and its alternatives refer to e-books and manuals available on the net. - 32519

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