A bankruptcy filing becomes a public record. This means that anyone can see what you have disclosed to the court.
Most of my clients seem to understand this when speaking to me initially.
What they don’t always understand, is that everything about your present financial life and many things about your past financial life, must be disclosed to the Court under the penalty of perjury.
You cannot exclude certain assets or debts from this disclosure requirement.
If you owe your cousin 2500.00 for the work he did on your home, and he considers himself to be a creditor of yours, you must disclose to the court that he is a creditor and propose to treat him the same as other creditors in a similar position.
If you re paid your cousin the money within a certain period of time prior to filing, you must disclose it.
If you owe child support or are owed child support you must disclose it.
The trade off for the loss of privacy is the “Fresh Start” or the removal of the obligation to pay on most debts.
The decision to make that trade, rests with the debtor.
