Deuteronomy 15 provides for periodic debt release.
Every seven years, creditors were instructed to release debts. The text provides for recurring relief from debt rather than treating every financial obligation as necessarily permanent.
The case for a financial reset
Why filing bankruptcy can be a responsible financial decision.
Bankruptcy is a lawful process for addressing debt when the numbers no longer work. Used thoughtfully, it can be a responsible financial decision, not a failure and not a loophole.
Written by Benjamin HestonUpdated August 27, 2026
Built into American law
The Constitution expressly provides for bankruptcy.
Article I, Section 8, Clause 4 gives Congress the power to establish uniform laws on bankruptcy throughout the United States.
That placement matters. The people who designed the federal system understood that an economy needs a lawful way to deal with debts that cannot be paid as originally promised. A fresh start is not an accident of the system. It is one of the system’s intended functions.
Reference: U.S. Constitution, Article I, § 8, clause 4.
Debt relief long predates modern bankruptcy law
Biblical law includes forms of debt release and economic restoration.
Deuteronomy and Leviticus both address circumstances in which debts, property rights, and economic obligations are periodically reset or released.
Leviticus 25 describes the Jubilee.
The Jubilee included restoration of property and release from certain forms of servitude. The broader point is that formal economic relief is not a modern invention.
BEYOND THE BIBLE
The Qur'an also addresses debt hardship.
The Qur’an directs creditors to give a debtor in hardship more time and says that waiving the debt as charity is better (Qur’an 2:280). The traditions are different, but both recognize circumstances in which inability to pay calls for relief rather than indefinite collection.
What a client felt after filing
★★★★★
“Ben Heston is a phenomenal Bankruptcy attorney. His entire staff really goes above and beyond to make you feel welcome in their office, assure you that filing bankruptcy is not a big deal (thousands do it, including the rich and famous) and really do their best to make the process as easy as possible.”
Alicia A.
A rational decision
Sometimes continuing to pay debt is the worse financial choice.
Paying debt at any cost is not automatically responsible. The right analysis asks what your money needs to accomplish now and over the next decade.
Protect money needed for living expenses
Housing, food, healthcare, taxes, and family stability may deserve priority over debt that bankruptcy can discharge.
Stop making the situation worse
Interest, late fees, lawsuits, garnishments, and depleted retirement savings can make waiting more expensive than acting.
Use the bankruptcy process honestly
American law gives people and businesses structured ways to address debt. Using that process honestly is not gaming it.
Make room to rebuild
A discharge can replace an unworkable payment cycle with room to budget, save, and make forward-looking decisions.
What responsibility looks like
What a responsible bankruptcy filing looks like.
A bankruptcy case should be based on complete information, deliberate timing, and a specific reason for choosing Chapter 7 or Chapter 13.
- 01
Review the case before filing
Understand eligibility, property, transfers, liens, deadlines, alternatives, and the consequences of each chapter.
- 02
Make complete disclosures
Income, assets, debts, transactions, and financial history are reported honestly and supported with records.
- 03
Choose the chapter that fits the problem
Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 should solve a defined problem, not simply be filed because a generic website said to do it.
- 04
Use the discharge to rebuild
The point is not just to get through the case. It is to come out of it with a debt load and budget you can actually live with.
Does bankruptcy improve your financial position?
If the answer is yes after the risks, alternatives, property, timing, and costs are reviewed, filing may be the most responsible decision available.
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