Bankruptcy can be a touchy subject--something that our clients want to keep as private as possible. In general, there are very few people who need to know that you filed bankruptcy.

1. My employer? No, your employer does not need to know that you filed bankruptcy.We will not send notice to your employer unless there is a particular reason to do so and you agree.

2. My landlord? It depends. If you have a lease on a residential property, we will generally need to give notice to your landlord that you are either keeping the lease, or dumping it in the bankruptcy. Also, if you owe money to your landlord, you may have to give notice.

3. My family? Generally not. There are only a couple of reasons any of your family members will get notice of your bankruptcy. The most common are if they cosigned a debt with you (or vice versa) or if you owe them money. Your attorney can probably give you some tips on dealing with family member/creditors in bankruptcy.

4. Is it on the internet? No. Your bankruptcy case will generally not be Google-able. There are public court records that attorneys can access on the web, but they're password protected, and someone would need to be looking for your name in particular to find it.