April 9, 2008

• Elderly, Retired Debtors Forced Into Bankruptcy Because of Fraud

  Every week, Clark and Washington gets calls from elderly clients asking for information about bankruptcy because of unmanageable debt.  And all too often, this debt arises because the senior overspent on television home shopping programs or because the senior succomed to the pitch of a telemarketer. (…)

March 8, 2008

• Why Do People File for Bankruptcy?

  If you ask 10 bankruptcy lawyers why their clients file for bankruptcy, you are likely to get ten different answers.  I ran across this post from the Silicon Valley Blogger on the Digerati Life blog that offers the following reasons:

  Bad luck - unexpected illnesses, accidents, crime, unexpected job loss
  Lack of preparation - lack of emergency funds, insufficient insurance, poor estate planning
  Bad Financial Decisions - divorce, bad investments, gambling, falling for something that sounds too good to be true

  Here at Clark and Washington, we probably see more bankruptcies resulting from medical problems and related bills than from any other cause.  Our #2 reason would be bad decisions - such as buying too much house or a too-expensive car. (…)