Many clients of our firm are concerned that their friends, relatives, or business associates will learn of their bankruptcy and have a negative reaction. It is our professional opinion at Nova Law Group that these concerns are unwarranted in the context of the vast majority of bankruptcy filings. In other words, except in the most unusual of circumstances, it is likely that no one you care about will learn of your bankruptcy filing unless you tell them.

Bankruptcy filings are technically matters of public record, and in theory, someone you know could go down to the courthouse and search for non-confidential information involving your filing. Confidential information, like your social security number, is not available as a public record for security reasons. The public nature of bankruptcy filings makes it possible, although extremely unlikely, that a friend, relative, or business associate of yours would find information regarding your bankruptcy case. Most people have better things to do than stalking the local courthouse to uncover potential information regarding possible bankruptcy filings of their friends and relatives. This would be an enormous waste of free time, and many people don’t know that information regarding bankruptcy filings is even available. As a result, although it is theoretically possible that someone you know could learn of your bankruptcy filing, it is very unlikely that they ever would.

Perhaps the only exception to the above rule is that a friend, relative, or business associate of yours will be aware of your bankruptcy case if that person is also your creditor. When you file bankruptcy, all of your creditors will receive notice from the court regarding your bankruptcy filing and how to protect any rights they may have regarding payment from the bankruptcy estate. Accordingly, friends, relatives, and business associates who are also creditors of yours will know about your bankruptcy filing.

In our experience, in the very rare instances when a personal connection of our client finds out about the client’s bankruptcy case, it is generally not an issue. Most people understand that bankruptcy exists for a reason—to get people on their feet again, and that the vast majority of bankruptcy filers are hard-working people who have just hit very challenging times. Many of our clients are reluctant to discuss bankruptcy with friends, relatives, and colleagues, only to find that these same people are generally compassionate regarding the client’s situation. In the humble opinion of our firm, we believe that people who reach an educated decision to explore bankruptcy options are taking charge of their financial situation and the cards life has dealt them. These choices should be viewed as positive empowerment on the part of the client and a demonstration of resolve to work through the client’s debt problems toward a constructive solution. In our view, any negative stigma to these positive decisions is almost always misplaced, and is a reflection only of ignorance relating to bankruptcy’s purpose. Our firm commends our clients for taking affirmative steps to resolve their debts and move on to a fresh start in life.