Unfortunately, a great number of us are now familiar with the stress of excessive debts and the terror of the daily phone calls from creditors demanding money that we simply do not have.
If you are one of the very unfortunate people who are in a situation where you are entirely unable to pay your debts and it looks that it might well be this way for the foreseeable future, then bankruptcy is one very real option to end your financial stress.
In terms of the main advantage of this, the bankruptcy automatic stay means that as soon as you file for bankruptcy, your creditors are no longer permitted to chase a debt from you.
The bankruptcy automatic stay is the biggest appeal of bankruptcy for those in a desperate situation.
The biggest factor of stress in being in excessive debt is phone calls and letters threatening all sorts of legal action if you do not pay up.
With the bankruptcy automatic stay, creditors cannot do this and you can rest assured that your creditor will not be able to try to take your wage through your employer or repossess your home or car.
In fact, your creditors are not even permitted to contact you once you have filed for bankruptcy and if they do so, they face potential fines.
Of course, you may have to make payments or sacrifice assets later on, all of which will be dependent upon the specifics of your own case.
But the automatic stay gives you something of a reprieve for a while and the opportunity to gather your thoughts together and prepare for your case.
In this tough economic climate with increasing numbers of people turning to bankruptcy as a means of cleaning their debts, there are now tighter rules on who will be able to become declared bankrupt.
But the specifics of your case are something any good lawyer can help with.