Chicago Bankruptcy Lawyers & Attorneys

If I file for bankruptcy will my job, will my employer, will my co-workers know? The answer is “no”, typically. The employers will not find out about a bankruptcy unless I need to notify them, and that will be in the case of a garnishment that I need to stop. So in those cases, yes, the employer or the payroll department will find out about the bankruptcy since I am required to send an automatic stay to stop any kind of garnishment that is pending on a client’s paycheck. But not to worry, many people file for bankruptcy, and employers are sympathetic to this and to the fact that you’re able to file for bankruptcy to stop a garnishment. Further, employers should be happy for you and it cuts down on the administrative paperwork that they have to do in turns of garnishing. So yes, your employer may know about it, only in times when I would have to stop a garnishment. But, for the overwhelming majoring of cases, your employer is not aware of your bankruptcy filing. Your co-workers are not aware of your bankruptcy and your neighbors are not aware of your bankruptcy. Someone would have to go down to the bankruptcy court, get on a public access computer and look up your name. Now how likely is that? Why would someone waste time to do that? And anyway, it is your federal right to file. You shouldn’t feel embarrassed, you shouldn’t feel shame. Everyone finds themselves in difficult situations in sometime in their lives. That is why the federal government put in bankruptcy laws to protect people, whether it be a Chapter 7 fresh start or a Chapter 13 bill consolidation case. You have to do what is best for you and best for your family going forward. So most people will not find out about your bankruptcy filing, but in the rare cases where they do, so be it. You have to do what is best for you, and if that means filing a Chapter 7 or Chapter 13, so be it.