It’s Halloween time, so we’ll all be watching scary movies and dressing up in scary costumes, but what’s more scary than Halloween? How about real life? Things like losing your job or having a foreclosure on your home or going through a divorce or the death of a spouse are real life horrific events. And unfortunately, those things happen every day.
Losing Your Job Is More Scary than Halloween:
The most immediate impact of loss of a job is a reduction in your income. Hopefully, that’s just temporary if you can find a new job right away. But, does the new job pay as much as the old job? If you work for a high-paying employer such as Cerner, you might not be able to replace your full salary. Back in the early 2000’s, local employer Sprint was laying off a lot of employees who were earning a higher than market rate salary. Those folks normally spent 6 months or longer trying to find an equivalent job, and when they did finally get a new job, it often paid only 75% of what they earned at Sprint. If the new job pays less than the old job, you may not be able to meet your monthly expenses.
Losing Your Home is More Scary than Halloween:
If you are facing foreclosure or eviction, you know how stressful it can be. If can be more than just losing the roof over your head – you may have many years of memories tied up in your home. Plus, there are the issues of finding replacement housing and the expense and effort of relocating.
Losing a Spouse to Divorce or Death is More Scary than Halloween:
People who are facing a divorce, or worse, the death of a spouse, know that it is much worse than anything Halloween can dish out. It is terrifying to think about the emotional scars that either divorce or death will cause. Additionally, there will be significant financial impacts of the loss of a spouse.
If you are facing any of these scenarios, just know that you are not alone. All of these devastating situations are faced by tens of thousands of people on a daily basis. So, when you can collect yourself emotionally, it’s time to focus on how to recover. With the loss of a job, you need to deal primarily with the loss of income, and a Chapter 7 bankruptcy can eliminate debts such as credit cards and medical bills. If you own an expensive automobile and you want to get out from under that payment, a Chapter 7 case will allow you to surrender the vehicle and wipe out any loan deficiency. A Chapter 13 bankruptcy can restructure that auto loan to allow you to lower the payments and keep the vehicle.
For those facing loss of a home, a Chapter 13 bankruptcy can permanently stop a foreclosure. A Chapter 7 case can temporarily forestall a foreclosure or eviction and buy you a few months to arrange replacement housing. Plus, a Chapter 7 can eliminate any foreclosure deficiency or any debt owed to your landlord or utility companies.
For those facing loss of a spouse, that normally means you need to lower your expenses, which can be done with either a Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy. If you are facing any of these situations, please feel free to visit our website at www.kansascitybankruptcy.com or call for a free initial consultation with an attorney to see whether bankruptcy may help you deal with these very scary situations.
