Real-Life Decision Making -- Solution
You accept her at her word and process the bankruptcy papers.
You think to yourself, "She could be telling the truth. It is possible. On the other hand, $150,000 is a lot of money, even with the high cost of dentistry and so on. Still, she seems to be very sincere and I feel sorry for her. It isn't easy trying to hold down a job and look after three small children at the same time. I don't want to cause her any more problems than I have to."
You are getting ready to go to court, where the single mother will swear under oath that she is telling the truth and that she has no assets to declare.
However, the next day, you get a phone call from the woman's sister. The sister reports that the bankrupt woman stored a number of electronic items in her (the sister's) basement. There is an expensive stereo system, a top-of-the-line computer, a good digital video camera and several other items.
"I begged my sister to tell you the truth," the sister says. "But she refused. I don't want to get in trouble over this myself, so I decided that I have to report it."
You confront the single mother with this information. Begrudgingly, she admits that it is true.
"If you had lied under oath, it would have been a very serious matter," you tell the woman. "You could have been facing some jail time."
You are very relieved that you found out in time. You could have ended up paying this money yourself from the bond that you have posted. You vow to yourself that you will investigate more fully from now on.
"I always have to be in detective mode," says Thomas Miller, a bankruptcy trustee. "Sometimes people will 'rat' on the bankrupt. Or sometimes there will be huge credit card debts that would have been difficult to accumulate without having assets to show for it."