Question: I'm a pet-lover. If I file bankruptcy I want to keep all of my pets. I have a dog, cat, bird, snake and a fish. I've always loved animals and my first job was at a pet store in Atlanta. I had such fun cleaning the cages and taking care of the animals.
I thought I was going to be a veterinarian but after college at Georgia State University I got a job with a tech company in Alpharetta where I worked for 5 years, and then I worked for an internet advertising company in Sandy Springs for 3 years.
But now my debts are way too much for my income. I started spending money on clothes, cars and jewelry because of my depression and then I got divorced. And I have 4 kids.
Now I want to get rid of all that debt. I've got credit card debt, some personal loans, a repo of a car and a little bit of gambling debt.
I know that filing bankruptcy really helps people because my sister filed and she is so happy that she did. But I won't file if I need to get rid of my pets. I'm keeping my pets no matter what happens. My fur babies were the only ones that stuck by me in the divorce. Those wonderful animals were always there for me.
K.C. in Dunwoody
Answer: Questions about pets and bankrupcty are pretty commom. We have even been asked if a pet can file bankruptcy.
I have some good news for you. We have not seen a request from a bankruptcy trustee or a bankruptcy judge that a client of ours give up a pet in either a chapter 7 or chapter 13. And many of our clients, just like you, are pet owners and pet lovers.
While we haven't had any requests for anyone to relinquish ownership in a pet, the bankruptcy law does ask for a person to delineate any "animals" they own. That's because the bankruptcy court wants to know if a person owns an expensive thoroughbred racehorse or a valuable farm animal, like a cow. The law is much less concerned, of course, with a regular pet that so many millions of Americans have.
And we are very much aware that when a pet becomes ill, it can be a big financial burden on the pet owner.
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