Bankruptcy: One Family's Story
"Jackie couldn't stand it. Her nine and ten year olds were always begging her to play Monopoly with them. "It was easy enough to come up with excuses they could accept, like "I'm too busy right now" or "If I don't cook dinner, nobody gets to eat around here," she says. The truth of the matter was far more complex.
"Jackie couldn't stand it. Her nine and ten year olds were always begging her to play Monopoly with them. "It was easy enough to come up with excuses they could accept, like "I'm too busy right now" or "If I don't cook dinner, nobody gets to eat around here," she says. The truth of the matter was far more complex.
"I would get a twist in my gut whenever I walked by their game table and saw the white backs of property title cards, the word "Mortgage" leaping off them in bold letters. There was no way on earth I could relax playing a game where I had to watch my kids cope with debt. I seriously considered banning the game from the house." Jackie and her husband, Jim, had a lot on their plate and tensions were running high. Their fledgling retail business was not paying the bills and yet demanded a hundred percent of both partners' time. Eventually everything from back to school supplies to grocery bills made it onto personal credit cards, all in the hope that "next month we'll turn a corner".
When the business' gears finally ground to a halt and Jackie and Jim were back at working for someone else, it was clear that their debt accumulation was a staggering load that would haunt them for many years to come. In fact, just making the minimum payments on all their accounts would barely allow them to keep their heads above water. Jackie said her biggest worry was the very real possibility of having to tell the children that they were going to lose their home.
The delicate thread of maintaining minimum payments on maxed out revolving credit was broken the night Jim fell at work on his shift and ended up in the hospital for several days with a head injury. Jackie winces when she recalls the arrival of the first hospital bill in the mail. They hadn't been able to afford medical insurance for quite some time.
Jackie and Jim are not dumb people. Jackie with a business degree and Jim with his family history filled with self-employment, they both knew they were taking risks when starting their own business. They were brimming with energy and great ideas, a little low on capital but high on entrepreneurial spirit. They were convinced that combining these strengths with lots of hard work would bear fruit. They did what every whole-hearted entrepreneur does: They went for broke into a world where they could not possibly control all the circumstances. All the while the word "bankruptcy" remained so vile, neither of them ever breathed it.
It wasn't until Jackie awoke to the fact that she and her husband were breaking under the burden and slipping into incapacitating depression, that she decided it was time to take a look at a previously unconsidered route. For her children's sake, she knew she needed to take charge. "You are willing to do things for your children that you never before thought possible," Jackie explains. She went hunting for a reliable bankruptcy lawyer even though at first it went against every fiber in her being.
Prepared with a scrupulously detailed financial statement, Jackie went into her first meeting with the attorney. What she was unprepared for was the torrent of emotion that came tumbling out when she relayed her saga to him. The numbness of past months were transformed in those few minutes. "I stupidly apologized to him (the attorney) over and over again for our situation, as though I believed it was a deliberate act of folly on our part - like we should have seen it coming down the pike. Then I apologized for dumping on him like he was my therapist or something." As for therapy, the attorney did hand her a tissue box before saying, "There is light at the end of the tunnel."
Jackie and Jim explored all their options with their bankruptcy attorney and after weighing them, decided that filing for Chapter 7 was the one most appropriate for their case. "It's not like you are going to come out of this smelling like a rose," Jim admits. "Your pride, your idea of who you are is severely dented. But when you measure that against no longer being able to function as a provider for your family or as a parent to your children, it becomes clear that the filing process was meant to give me a new lease on life. It is a safety valve that has kept my family from imploding."
Jackie will tell you that both she and Jim have been hurt by the whole experience but she also notes that they are able to get a little sleep now. "It was the struggle leading up to the filing, not the filing itself, that was the nightmare," she explains. Their attorney has also made it possible for them to not lose their modest home in the process. "We have a lot of hard work ahead of us in the future to make up for that dark period," Jackie says, smiling faintly. "But at least our kids have been spared losing their home, or worse yet, their family.
"Jackie couldn't stand it. Her nine and ten year olds were always begging her to play Monopoly with them. "It was easy enough to come up with excuses they could accept, like "I'm too busy right now" or "If I don't cook dinner, nobody gets to eat around here," she says. The truth of the matter was far more complex.
"I would get a twist in my gut whenever I walked by their game table and saw the white backs of property title cards, the word "Mortgage" leaping off them in bold letters. There was no way on earth I could relax playing a game where I had to watch my kids cope with debt. I seriously considered banning the game from the house." Jackie and her husband, Jim, had a lot on their plate and tensions were running high. Their fledgling retail business was not paying the bills and yet demanded a hundred percent of both partners' time. Eventually everything from back to school supplies to grocery bills made it onto personal credit cards, all in the hope that "next month we'll turn a corner".
When the business' gears finally ground to a halt and Jackie and Jim were back at working for someone else, it was clear that their debt accumulation was a staggering load that would haunt them for many years to come. In fact, just making the minimum payments on all their accounts would barely allow them to keep their heads above water. Jackie said her biggest worry was the very real possibility of having to tell the children that they were going to lose their home.
The delicate thread of maintaining minimum payments on maxed out revolving credit was broken the night Jim fell at work on his shift and ended up in the hospital for several days with a head injury. Jackie winces when she recalls the arrival of the first hospital bill in the mail. They hadn't been able to afford medical insurance for quite some time.
Jackie and Jim are not dumb people. Jackie with a business degree and Jim with his family history filled with self-employment, they both knew they were taking risks when starting their own business. They were brimming with energy and great ideas, a little low on capital but high on entrepreneurial spirit. They were convinced that combining these strengths with lots of hard work would bear fruit. They did what every whole-hearted entrepreneur does: They went for broke into a world where they could not possibly control all the circumstances. All the while the word "bankruptcy" remained so vile, neither of them ever breathed it.
It wasn't until Jackie awoke to the fact that she and her husband were breaking under the burden and slipping into incapacitating depression, that she decided it was time to take a look at a previously unconsidered route. For her children's sake, she knew she needed to take charge. "You are willing to do things for your children that you never before thought possible," Jackie explains. She went hunting for a reliable bankruptcy lawyer even though at first it went against every fiber in her being.
Prepared with a scrupulously detailed financial statement, Jackie went into her first meeting with the attorney. What she was unprepared for was the torrent of emotion that came tumbling out when she relayed her saga to him. The numbness of past months were transformed in those few minutes. "I stupidly apologized to him (the attorney) over and over again for our situation, as though I believed it was a deliberate act of folly on our part - like we should have seen it coming down the pike. Then I apologized for dumping on him like he was my therapist or something." As for therapy, the attorney did hand her a tissue box before saying, "There is light at the end of the tunnel."
Jackie and Jim explored all their options with their bankruptcy attorney and after weighing them, decided that filing for Chapter 7 was the one most appropriate for their case. "It's not like you are going to come out of this smelling like a rose," Jim admits. "Your pride, your idea of who you are is severely dented. But when you measure that against no longer being able to function as a provider for your family or as a parent to your children, it becomes clear that the filing process was meant to give me a new lease on life. It is a safety valve that has kept my family from imploding."
Jackie will tell you that both she and Jim have been hurt by the whole experience but she also notes that they are able to get a little sleep now. "It was the struggle leading up to the filing, not the filing itself, that was the nightmare," she explains. Their attorney has also made it possible for them to not lose their modest home in the process. "We have a lot of hard work ahead of us in the future to make up for that dark period," Jackie says, smiling faintly. "But at least our kids have been spared losing their home, or worse yet, their family.
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 22 August 2009 15:19 )