Katherine:	Hello everyone, and thank you so much for joining us today on This Needs to be Said. Our friend, attorney Peter Daigle is here today to talk with us about coming to terms with bankruptcy. Before he gets started, I want you all, each time he comes on the show, to make notes. Because even if you don’t need the information now, you have heard enough talk about it as an option to reset your life, that you’ll have these notes to go back to immediately. It’s like preparing for a fire. You do a fire drill every month, or you should, so that when it happens there’s no panicking. Everyone knows what to do. So when you find yourself in a financial fire, you know exactly what steps to take.
Katherine:	At this time, I wanna welcome Peter to the conversation. Hi Peter how are you?
Peter Daigle:	Hey Katherine, nice to speak to you again, thank you.
Katherine:	Always a good time we have. So you’re talking about coming to terms with bankruptcy today, so I’ve already told everyone to take their pen and paper out so they can take notes. I have mine out, I’m ready. What do you have for us?
Peter Daigle:	Okay. So here we go. Bankruptcy is really smart public policy, because it’s been shown in the past to save marriages, free income for the support of children, prevent tremendous anxiety and mental stress, and also to reduce homelessness. So people that just can’t afford to pay their home and their credit card debt. And it also enables them to become consumers again, because you’re contributing to a healthy economy. So when the bankruptcy is over, you’ll go back to spending money on food, clothes, rent, and other necessities for your family, rather than giving all of your disposable income to interest, late fees, and penalties.
Peter Daigle:	Now most people come to bankruptcy … to the realization that they need it for a number of reasons. The number one reason that we see a lot of is medical expenses. It’s actually shown nationally that it is the leading cause of bankruptcy. That there’s some type of a condition that’s occurred in the family, and the insurance doesn’t cover it. And so the family of the individual is having to go out of pocket for a lot of expenses and that’s taking up of savings, they’ve had to use credit cards. And they’ve not been able to recover form that medical expense.
Peter Daigle:	The second reason that we see a lot too is a job loss. From a layoff, someone’s been terminated, resigned, or even retired. We see a lot of it also, we’re not able to live on Social Security. And some folks have been able to get severance packages, but a lot of people are just terminated or lose their job with little or no notice. A lot of people don’t have emergency funds because they’ve used all their disposable income to support their children, or living. So when the music stops so to speak, and there’s no job, they can’t afford to keep servicing their credit card debts and the like.
Peter Daigle:	So that’s the second reason we see a lot of folks coming in, is because of the job loss. The third reason we’re seeing is divorce and separation. It’s real tough, because a lot of families are on the edge anyway, and they’re relying on both income in the family, let’s say to row the boat so to speak and move it forward. And without one person there, it’s difficult. Never mind the legal fees that are incurred, and having two homes to support from a divorce or a separation, but we see it as alone enough to put people over the top. And then one person is usually end up having to pay child support, which is right, and alimony. And so again, there’s little or no money leftover to pay the other bills.
Peter Daigle:	The other reason is we’re still seeing some leftover from the real estate crisis back in ’08. A lot of homes are still under water. People who had signed up for loan modifications couldn’t afford them. Second mortgages, and they’ve lost them. So there’s still some followup from that. The final thing we sorta see people for is just some unforeseen event. We’ve seen identity theft, flood in their home, a fire. Just some kind of unforeseen event that they just hadn’t expected, that’s come about and then it’s caused this problem.
Peter Daigle:	If this has happened to you and you find yourself in debt, you gotta give yourself a break. I mean you realize that these circumstances that I just told you, a lot of them weren’t foreseen. And so you’ve gotta just realize that these credit card companies have offered easy credit and high limits, and outrageous interest and at high fees, and so therefore, don’t feel so bad for them that you’re not paying them. Don’t waste any time on that.
Schedule an Appointment
Peter Daigle:	And also, don’t be concerned that your friends or family are gonna know that you filed. It’s a public record in that, it’ll show up in your credit report, and if someone really wanted to go look at the bankruptcy court they could find you, but you can’t find it on Google. Nobody gets notice. The only people that get notice are those individuals that you list on your bankruptcy, like MasterCard, Visa, and Capital One, but the rest wouldn’t know.
Peter Daigle:	So if this is something that’s troubling you, find a good bankruptcy attorney. Most bankruptcy attorneys offer empathy and encouragement, and let them know that they’re gonna be in a safe environment. That the conversations are confidential and nobody will know. And then just coping with your negative feelings, it’s tough obviously. Nobody wants to have financial troubles, but the financial distress of not filing leads to insomnia, depression, anxiety, shame, or even just having relationship problems.
Peter Daigle:	So once you get beyond that, and realize that there is hope with a fresh start, and you’re not bogged down in the emotional trap of shame, you’ll be fine. Lots of famous people, Lincoln, Grant, Henry Ford, Mark Twain, Walt Disney, they’ve all had to file bankruptcy. So you’re not alone, you’re in company with people who have made a success for themselves. When it’s all over, you’re gonna stand up, dust yourself off, and then just decide if there was something you could’ve done differently throughout the process, you can do it. Otherwise, just get your fresh start, and get on with your life.
Katherine:	I like a lot of what you said, and I’m taking notes as you go. I was trying to be quiet, I didn’t interrupt anything, so I hope that didn’t throw you off. I know normally I’m like in there, in there. But you talk about bankruptcy, and you may have said this before, but I am not certain. You said that bankruptcy could have saved marriages. Now I’m like what, save a relationship? And it makes sense, because when I talk with people, attorneys, about divorces, one of the number one reasons people get divorced is finances. It fits together.
Peter Daigle:	I know. It’s so sad.
Katherine:	You gave us reasons why we may find ourselves in these situations. You told us listen, don’t bog yourself down with worrying about who you owe, you need to reset yourself. Worrying about it isn’t gonna fix the problem. So as we’re preparing ourselves for when life happens, when a hardship will come, I think we need to have a card with your name on it. Like an emergency card, you know, break glass in the case of emergency type of thing, so that we know.
Katherine:	And I said it in the beginning, and I’m guilty of it too, skipping out on doing the fire drill because I know how to get out of the house. Well do you, because we hadn’t role played, well what if the fire is here or there. So the same thing with our finances. What if the fire in our finances is here, and it’s causing a divide in my relationship. If it’s causing me now not to be able to send money for my children, who I have to pay child support for, or whatever the hardship is that we’re facing.
Katherine:	And I know that we as humans think that if I live very carefully, and I do all the right things, that none of this should ever apply to me. However, bad things happen to good people, so how do we prepare. So will you go back … give me an emergency. I’m calling Peter, there’s a fire in my finances, but what should that card look like. Your name, get me out of trouble.
Peter Daigle:	Yeah, so it’s Peter Daigle. My direct line is (508) 771-7444, and if you go on Google, and you can Google me under Daigle Law Office, you can contact me through the website. You can order a free book, you can look at a lot of the videos and blogs that I have posted. So anything you ever wanna know is gonna be found on my website, so feel free to go through it. If you wanna talk to me further, you can contact me through the website, or through the phone number that I gave you.
Schedule an Appointment
Katherine:	Absolutely. While this may seem like we are repeating some things, we’re not Peter. We’re not. It’s like reading … this would be our bankruptcy bible, so we’re reading it and something in it is gonna be new to us each time, because you didn’t consider it because you don’t yet find yourself in this situation. Or if you are, how close are you to being able to contact someone, like are you too late, did you miss a deadline.
Katherine:	And a lot of this stuff, you answer every time you come on the show, so that people can prepare themselves. They know someone, they can now say I know someone who can share this information. Hearing your voice repeatedly is going to establish trust. We look forward to our friend coming, and sharing with us. Because in the beginning, I have to be honest with you, bankruptcy was a bad word for me, so it was a challenge for me to take on sitting down with you to ask these questions.
Katherine:	Because I have filed a bankruptcy in my past, and it was unpleasant, and I was nervous. Not that the attorney was mean or anything, but I felt bad. Everything that you’ve discussed with the audience. I felt bad, I just felt, why did I get myself in this situation? If you do the right things, if you’re careful in life, if you do what you’re supposed to, you wouldn’t be in this situation. And that was part of my upbringing.
Katherine:	So when you began talking with us a couple of years ago, that was one of the things that people face. It was how they were raised, their beliefs, their background, whether it’s religion or their … so people have these things that hang them up, and it’s like Peter, I hear you. And I have heard you. Today you said it could save a marriage, and I’m never been married and I’m scratching my head like wow. How many people know this?
Katherine:	So the more I hear it, I’m more comfortable, I’m more confident, in saying If I find myself in this situation, I don’t have to feel like I did something wrong. It’s not that you didn’t, but it’s not necessarily saying that you did. Sometimes that juggling act that we have to take on in life, you drop a few balls. And that’s what bankruptcy is. I’m able to make an analogy of it, where it’s not as terrifying, and I know that that’s what you do for the This Needs to be Said audience, when you come and you share things with us.
Katherine:	I don’t want you to ever get tired of repeating yourself, because you’re up against many, many years of people’s beliefs and upbringing, and shaming, and being disappointed. What if this was one more thing in my life that I find I’m disappointing someone on? I don’t wanna go through with it, I’d rather just suck it up. I deserve to be handled like this with life. That’s a hard way to look at it, when there are ways to reset. And I love that you used entrepreneurs that everyone knows, and we know the history now because we’re many years after their successes. But we also did not know about their failures, or their resets.
Katherine:	So that was good, and it makes a connection. I just want … I’m saying all of this to say thank you, personally. And I don’t want you to ever get tired of sharing the information with us, really. Because you could share it with me, and we have a good interaction, but then I find myself in trouble, and then I forget everything that you shared with me, because I haven’t embraced it because your teaching is going up against 40 years of, I don’t wanna make my momma upset. Or I don’t wanna disappoint my children. You know when someone comes to sit with you outside of this radio show, outside of going to your website, when they come and sit with you, that’s a small amount of time. So every visit they have with us on this radio show, they can say okay, I’m virtually sitting in the office with Peter, and he’s explaining to me, he’s educating me.
Katherine:	Because when you’re nervous, it’s really hard to make really good clear decisions. Especially if I waited to the last hour to ask for your help. So all of these things, you’re empowering us to be equipped to make a good decision when the time comes. I know what to do in case of a fire. I know what to do in case of a financial burden. So this is a huge thank you to you. Thank you for continuing to come to bring this information.
Peter Daigle:	I’ll keep weaving some of these principles into all of our talks, because again, it’s just something that needs to be heard over and over again. Don’t feel shame.
Katherine:	Yeah. Well good. I’m glad we’re here. I feel like we’re just hanging out on the phone, just me and you, but I know that we’re sharing this information with a group of people, but that’s how comfortable you’ve made me. So I wanna say thank you. And I know that in case of trouble, I have someone to get in touch with.
Peter Daigle:	That’s fantastic. Thank you for inviting me.
Katherine:	Absolutely. So until next time, have a wonderful day Peter. Thank you.
Peter Daigle:	Okay. Bye bye.
Katherine:	Bye.
Schedule an Appointment