Who did/will you tell?

[ease]

I'm wondering who people have told about their decision to file for bankruptcy.
I have a trusted friend who has been through it that I will tell. DH has a friend like this too.
I don't plan on telling my family as they will try to bail us out and I just can't let that happen. DD plans on telling his brother. I'd rather he not. His brother certainly won't offer to bail us out but his judgment and his wife's pity are more than I want to deal with.
We plan on telling our children when they are older as part of their financial education. Right now, we are telling them that the credit cards are being cut up and if we don't have the cash on hand, we won't buy it and to look forward to eating more rice and beans.

[cityish]

I'm not filing BK formally right now but I have recently walked away from a great deal of house debt and CC debt that was associated with the money pit property, until I can get myself together and figure out how to handle this legally.

I have only told a handful of people closest to me. Some have been more supportive than others, we'll just leave it at that.

Dealing with this level of debt can be a devastating and scary experience... I think it's at times like this you find out who is really there for you and also who is not there for you. It's the latter that piles more grief on top of more grief. Maybe that's not a bad thing but I have been rather stunned by some of the responses I've received from people around me.

[Flamingo]

The only people that will know of your BK are those that you tell. Your concern is those that you tell if they tell anyone else. Or if you are not careful on the job and someone overhears a conversation you may have at work prior to filing as phone calls for organizatoin are numerous between attorney/client and walls have ears at work.

Some newspapers list filings weekly in certain sections. Ours does in our Business Section. It lists names, town, and assets/debts total for each case filed. No address is listed, just the town. So if your state/local newspaper posts BK filings, others can view it in the newspaper as it is public information.

[deadbroke99]

I have told my boss because she is also a friend and I have had to get off work for lawyer appts and will have to get off for 341 and such. I have told my best friend and my mother in law but not my parents. My mother in law is the greatest woman in the world and has been thru it herself. My husband's brother knows because he is staying with us (rent free) right now until he saves up the money to move out. We get 40 collection calls a day so he can't help but know.

[ekorB]

All my siblings know. I'm not that close to them being 7 and 10 years apart. I thought that they could learn from my mistakes. My parents also know because they co-signed on a lease for the business we run...so they had to know.

[Blondie75]

I only told my sister, mother and bf. That's it. It's really no one else's business.

[woeisme]

My husband's family all know, but not my family. They would be totally judgmental. Well, I did tell my brother's ex-wife, but she lives a thousand miles away and wouldn't tell any of my siblings or Mom. None of my friends at work know, unless the lady in payroll has loose lips (if so, no one had the guts to bring it up with me!). I only told 1 friend from outside work. I wouldn't have told hubby's family, I'm very private, esp about finances, but hubby tells them everything, often to my extreme annoyance, lol.

[BigJohn]

We told one of my sisters and my mother. They have always been there when we need them and they don't gossip. As for my sister, she has went bankrupted twice so it is no big deal for her.