We all want to pay our debts, for fear of being labeled a deadbeat. However, with professional advertisers convincing us we need to spend more and more, somehow we end up living beyond our means. It’s the American way.

For many of us, we spend most of our paychecks on interest, penalties, and a little bit of principal. Our debts just keep snowballing. After a while, our debts catch up with us for one reason or another. We might lose our job, get sick, or suffer from bad luck. We feel bad enough about the situation, but we are made to feel even worse with harassing phone calls, threatening letters, and lawsuits.

Should we feel guilty? Do the people behind credit card companies feel guilty for charging high interest? No. Most of our creditors make so much money from us that bankruptcy filings are just a minor loss to them. Less than one percent of the American population files for bankruptcy each year, and the other ninety-nine percent keep paying about twenty percent interest on their charge accounts. This means our creditors go ninety-nine steps forward and one step backward every year.

Most civilized people, from ancient times to the present, have allowed for honest citizens to escape the clutches of creditors through bankruptcy. Bankruptcy goes way back into history, and it has helped many people from "falling on their swords," so to speak. Bankruptcy gives people a fresh start, which helps prevent suicides, loss of homes, and broken homes.

A fresh start through bankruptcy doesn’t mean that bankrupt people lose everything they own. On the contrary, it’s surprising how much property bankrupt people can keep.

However, bankruptcy is a very important decision to make; it has a negative affect on one’s credit report, but it halts additional bad credit reporting, and allows good credit reporting to finally take place. It would be wise to spend some time to know more about bankruptcy and one’s options.

McKenna’s Paralegal Service cannot give legal advice, for only attorneys are allowed to do so. However, we have provided an exhaustive list of links for our customers to do research on their own, and to make an intelligent decision. Most of our customers have routine cases, with the usual one house, one car, and one spouse…and about $5,000 to $50,000 in credit card debts. Nearly all of our customers keep all of their property; this is primarily because most of our customers have no "luxury" property for the creditors to take; McKenna’s Paralegal Service does not help wealthy people with bankruptcy.

There is no law in any state that requires people to hire a lawyer, and most bankruptcies do not require a lawyer. Bankruptcy Law is not a required course in nearly all law schools; it’s an elective course that is usually offered once in a while. Also, Bankruptcy Law is not tested on the bar exam; so, if you do seek advice from an attorney, be sure to ask if he or she had any formal training or experience in Bankruptcy Law. Also, ask about the attorney’s quality of experience, for most attorneys price themselves out of the market; thus, some of them have hardly any bankruptcy clients. McKenna’s Paralegal Service has assisted thousands of customers with bankruptcy, in the 13 years we have been in business, and we have thousands of satisfied customers.

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Bankruptcy Research Links:

• SELF-HELP Information from Nolo Press.